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Canine cancer blood test earns honor The National Canine Cancer Foundation (
wearethecure.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating canine cancer, has awarded its “Seal of Excellence” to VDI-TKcanine+, a blood test to detect and monitor cancer in dogs. According to a founda- tion spokesman, this is only the second product and company to receive the award. VDI-TKcanine+ is offered exclusively by Veterinary Diagnos-
2012 AVMA study sees slight drop in pet ownership The most recent AVMA study of pet ownership and veterinary spending, which is conducted every 5 years, has revealed household pet ownership has dipped 2.4% over the past 5 years. According to an AVMA press release, the trend includes
household ownership of dogs and cats, which was down 1.9% and 6.2%, respectively. Bird ownership dropped 20.5% from 2006 to 2011. The AVMA sourcebook also shows that dogs are still the
most popular pet in America. More than 36% of all households in the United States own a dog, compared with 30.4% that own cats. Cats are still the most common pet, however. The total US population is about 74.1 million, compared with 70 million dogs. Cat owners are more likely to own several cats, 2.1 per household, compared with dog owners, who average 1.6 dogs per household. Total veterinary visits for dogs in 2011 increased to 130.4
million, a 9.2% increase from 2006. Veterinary visits for cats were down 4.4% from 2006 to 2011, when there were 60.5 mil- lion visits. The amount of money dog owners spent on veterinary care
for their pets rose to $19.1 billion in 2011, up 18.6% from 2006. Veterinary expenditures for cats remained comparatively flat, growing only 4.2% from 2006 to 2011, to $7.4 billion.
Report finds increase in 2011 pet supplies sales Retail sales of non-food pet supplies totaled $11.1 billion in 2011, up 2% over 2010, according to a midyear Packaged Facts report about pet supplies and pet care products in the United States. Annual sales gains have slowed from a high of 5% in 2007. Nonetheless, Packaged Facts is predicting a gradually improving showing for pet supplies as pent-up demand finally begins to kick in. The biggest external factor remains the economy, which is expected to strengthen gradually. The report suggests there are several factors pointing to a
return to healthier growth. These include the industry’s success in playing up the human–animal bond to drive higher ticket sales of premium products; the strong market presence of upper-income households that are willing and able to spend heavily on pet sup- plies; and the growing population of pets with specialized health needs, especially senior and overweight dogs and cats.
Trends magazine, November 2012
tics Institute (VDI), a specialty diagnostics company in southern California. It is a rapid-turnaround, send-out blood test made available to dog owners across the United States through their veterinarians. The blood test is used to confirm the presence of disease when cancer is suspected and to monitor the course of treatment or spread of disease following diagnosis. VDI-TKcanine+ measures two separate parameters in a dog’s blood: the enzyme thymidine kinase (TK) released into the blood- stream by cells affected by unusually rapid division, a sign of cancer, and a protein that detects when inflammation is present, another characteristic of most cancers. Test results are expressed in terms of sensitivity and specificity.
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