The Road to Cancer Care: Understanding How Far Owners Travel for Their Pets’ Oncology Treatment

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Abstract
Access to specialist veterinary oncology services may be influenced by geographic, demographic, and patient-related factors. Understanding travel burden is important for identifying potential barriers to care and designing more equitable service delivery models. This study quantified the distance travelled by owners seeking specialist oncology care at a UK veterinary teaching hospital and examined whether species, age, breed, and insurance status were associated with travel patterns. A retrospective review was conducted of all dogs and cats presenting to the Oncology Service at the Hospital for Small Animals, University of Edinburgh, between 1 December 2018 and 31 October 2025. Owner postcodes were used to calculate distances from residence to the hospital. Distances were compared across species (dog vs. cat), breed (pure-breed vs. mixed-breed), age (p < 0.001), pure-breed animals travelled significantly further than mixed-breed animals (p < 0.001), and younger animals travelled significantly further than older animals (p = 0.002). In multivariate analysis, species, age, and insurance status were significant, with dogs (p < 0.001), younger animals (p = 0.012), and uninsured animals (p = 0.008) travelling further. These findings highlight potential geographic inequities in access to specialist care and underscore the need for alternative service-delivery strategies to improve accessibility, particularly for cats and younger animals.

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