Overview
- The cohort included 87 purebred male Rottweilers across the U.S. and Canada, with a median frailty-scoring age of 13.3 years and median age at death of 14.0 years, and 27 dogs were intact at scoring.
- Male dogs with the shortest duration of testis exposure showed a high mortality risk associated with increasing frailty, while that mortality effect was essentially absent in those with the longest exposure.
- Investigators created a 34-variable clinical frailty score, reconstructed lifetime testis exposure, and followed each dog from frailty assessment until death.
- The work was led by the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation’s Center for Exceptional Longevity Studies and is published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports.
- Coverage and authors emphasize key limitations, including the observational design, no direct hormone measurements, varied reasons for neutering, and the need for further research before drawing human health conclusions.