10 Aug Gallup Survey Estimates Nearly 30 Million U.S. Dog Owners Have Experienced Canine Cancer, with Many Saying it Negatively Impacted Their Own Quality of Life

The emotional toll canine cancer takes on dog owners demonstrates the need for the Canine Cancer Care Index.

Only 18% of dog owners who have been through such an ordeal gave a perfect score to their overall canine cancer treatment experience.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 10, 2022 / Jaguar Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAGX) (Jaguar) has announced the publication of Gallup’s analysis of results from Take Charge of Canine Cancer,the first-ever nationally representative survey of U.S. dog owners’ experiences with the disease. The survey found that of the 67% of Americans who have had at least one dog in the past 10 years, nearly one in five – equating to approximately 30 million people – say at least one of their dogs has experienced cancer. Additionally, the majority of owners who have experienced canine cancer say they felt depressed or stressed “a lot” during the experience, and nearly one in three report a heavily negative impact on their own quality of life.

Gallup’s article, which can be viewed by clicking here, also describes the recently launched Jaguar Health Canine Cancer: Take C.H.A.R.G.E. (Canine Health and ReGistry Exchange) initiative. The article highlights the Canine Cancer Care Index and key data points on the emotional toll dog owners face with a canine cancer diagnosis, including:

• Canine cancer is a major stressor for dog owners. Nearly one-third of survey respondents (29%) report it had a heavily negative impact on their quality of life, while 63% report feeling a lot of stress and 58% report feeling down and depressed a great deal during the experience.
• Having a veterinarian who cares about a dog’s comfort and quality of care, and who thoroughly explains treatment options, is most critical to overall treatment satisfaction, whereas difficulty in managing side effects is the most important factor in determining the negative impact canine cancer has on dog owners’ wellbeing.

See complete results here: Gallup Dog Owner Survey and Canine Cancer Care Index

“Anyone who has experienced canine cancer knows the journey is difficult and emotionally devastating,” said Lisa Conte, Jaguar’s founder, president and CEO. “We established the Take C.H.A.R.G.E. Registry and Cancer Care Index to not only provide data on the incidence and prevalence of canine cancer to drive treatment advances, but also to drive improvement across three fundamental dimensions of the treatment experience: knowledge and awareness, quality of care, and a dog’s comfort. Supporting the comfort and quality of life of dogs undergoing cancer treatment may help keep them compliant with their therapy. We are delighted to partner with Gallup to drive this initiative forward.”

“While so many factors affect a person’s wellbeing, be it friends, work or physical health, pets continue to be a positive influence on many Americans’ quality of life,” said Bénédicte Clouet, a senior consultant at Gallup. “Our research shows that canine cancer impacts the wellbeing of the entire household. How vets manage the patient experience with pet owners is crucial to ensuring that owners and dogs continue to live their best lives.”

Methodology

The Gallup survey was conducted in March 2022, with 5,793 online respondents, including 3,897 current or past dog owners. The survey is part of the Take C.H.A.R.G.E. initiative, launched by Jaguar Health on the first National Canine Cancer Awareness Day, May 23, 2022. The initiative is co-sponsored by Jaguar Animal Health, TogoRun and Ivee. The survey estimated the prevalence of canine cancer – meaning the percentage of U.S. dogs with cancer in 2021 – at 3.4%, less than the approximately 5% prevalence in humans that year. The survey also found that the incidence of canine cancer – the percentage of U.S. dogs newly diagnosed with cancer in 2021 – was 2.8%, approximately five times the 0.57% incidence of newly diagnosed cancer in humans that year. This finding contradicts researchers’ previous assumption that canine cancer rates mirror human cancer rates.

The Gallup survey also established the Canine Cancer Care Index, which is designed to assess whether canine cancer care experiences are improving, worsening or staying the same for dog owners and their dogs over time. On a scale of 0 to 100, Gallup determined that the baseline for the Canine Cancer Care Index is 80.5, or a B-, indicating a clear need for improvement.

Jaguar Health’s press release announcing the survey results is available here.

The initiative also established the first U.S. Canine Cancer Registry based on a retrospective review of more than 35,000 anonymous canine patient records, uploaded to a secure, customized database, with more than 830 confirmed cancer diagnoses.

A major goal of the initiative is to continue to grow the registry, which will depend on veterinary clinics and dog owners uploading medical records of dogs with cancer at no cost to the clinic or dog owner. Information on the impact of canine cancer by breed, type, age, gender and location is included on an open-access, easy-to-use, interactive dashboard. Veterinary clinics can click here to opt-in their clinic and upload canine cancer records at no cost, and dog owners can upload their dog’s cancer records here. All submitted canine cancer records are anonymized before being added to the registry.

About Gallup

Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.

About Jaguar Health & Napo Pharmaceuticals

Jaguar Health is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, plant-based, non-opioid, and sustainably derived prescription medicines for people and animals with GI distress, including chronic, debilitating diarrhea. Jaguar Health’s wholly owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, focuses on developing and commercializing proprietary plant-based human gastrointestinal pharmaceuticals from plants harvested responsibly from rainforest areas.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements.” In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “aim,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are only predictions. Jaguar has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond Jaguar’s control. Some of the factors that could affect our actual results are included in the periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by applicable law, Jaguar does not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.