Osteoporotic risk and physeal closure in prepubertal ovariohysterectomized cats

We aimed to examine the early effects of prepubertal ovariohysterectomy (P-OHE) on bone loss and proximal physeal closure in cats. Fourteen kittens randomly underwent P-OHE or sham operations (S-OP) at three months (mo) of age and were allocated to group I and group II. Each mo between four and nine mo of age, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans were performed to determine the total body bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC). Proximal radial physeal closure and radial length were determined by radiography. Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), carboxy-terminal collagen teleopeptide (CTX), 17-β estradiol, progesterone, calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) were measured in the serum samples. No significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of BMD, BMC, BAP, BAP/CTX, P, progesterone and body weight (BW) (between 4 and 9 mo) and for Ca (between 5 and 9 mo) and for CTX levels (between 4 and 8 mo). The 17-β estradiol was significantly higher at 6, 8 and 9 mo of age in the S-OP group due to puberty (P = 0.02, P = 0.03 and P = 0.02 respectively). Although there was a significant difference (P = 0.0002) between the P-OHE and S-OP groups in terms of the proximal radial physeal closure times (7.43 ± 0.20 mo and 6.14 ± 0.14 mo, respectively), no significant difference was observed for the mean radius length (10.59 ± 0.10 cm and 10.06 ± 0.27 cm, respectively) at the last evaluation time. In conclusion, prepubertal ovariohysterectomized cats do not have any osteoporotic risks until nine mo of age and exhibit a delayed physeal closure time without a change in radius length.