***particularly as I understand osteosarcoma is not a "big" problem in our breed overall ***
According to Dr Padgett in a study of 848 tumours the percentage of osteosarcomas found was 1.7%. Within the Rottweiler breed I would surmise from personal experience that osteo is significant as it caused by far the highest rate of cause of death in my dogs. I still get phone calls for puppies and as often as not people have just lost a dog to bone cancer so my own feeling is that in Rotties it is probably genetic. Just a note. Here in S Africa the Rotties are not neutered early and dogs are mostly left entire for the duration of their lives. Bitches would be spayed after maternal duties are completed at around 7 - 8 years of age. Average age is between 9 - 10 and in our experience the youngest Rottie we had with osteo was 5 (a bitch) and the oldest 10 (a bitch spayed at 8 because of pyo). Marion Brown Teversal Bernese Mountain Dogs South Africa Dogs Never Lie About Love (Jeffrey Masson)
