Almost half of dogs over the age of 10 will develop cancer¹. While one in five cats will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime².

This insidious disease can affect all pets. Environmental stressors like tobacco smoke, pesticides, obesity, and so on cause cancer. Some purebred dogs have inherited tendencies to develop specific forms of cancer. Others develop over time as protective mechanisms are unable to cope with or repair excessive damage from external factors³.

Pets today have a better chance of being successfully treated for cancer thanks to advances in early recognition, diagnosis and treatment1, but many pets and their humans are yet impacted by this disease. That's where you can help.

Protect. Cure. Love.

These are watchwords for those of us whose lives have been affected by pet cancer. For everyone who has fought some variant of this insidious disease, the struggle to overcome is heartbreaking, expensive, and all too often futile.

Together we can stand strong, in the hope that one day, no one will have to lose a friend to the pervasive threat of cancer.

Sign the pledge to raise awareness of cancer in pets, and to memorialize those who have died as a result of this horrible disease.

More on this issue:

1. American Veterinary Medical Association, "Cancer in Pets."
2. Lauren Mingus, Colorado State University, Flint Animal Cancer Center (20 November 2019), "Common Cancers in Cats
3. Debbie Stoewen DVM, MSW, RSW, PhD; Christopher Pinard, DVM, VCA Hospitals, "What is Cancer?"