Possible Connection Between Spaying and Hemangiosarcoma Discovered

Could spaying dogs be linked to developing hemangiosarcoma — a common, aggressive, bloody cancer — later in life? New findings from the Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study point that way.  According to the authors of this analysis, published in Veterinary and Comparative Oncology, after the age of eight, the incidence of hemangiosarcoma in female dogs in the study rises if they are sterilized, and falls if they are intact. Male dogs face a similar risk regardless of whether they are neutered or not. This finding will likely spark many more studies to find out what the connection may be between sterilization and hemangiosarcoma. What a striking finding — and yet another reason to consider delaying sterilization in young dogs.