Volume 15, Issue 2: 2025 - Article 193

Abstract
Animal cancers are under-reported in Nigeria. The present study was a cross-sectional survey of the awareness, knowledge and perceptions of Nigerian veterinarians about cancers of animals and risk factors associated with their occurrence. A mixed-sequential explanatory method, consisting of a cross-sectional survey (n=374) and qualitative interviews (n=30), was used to obtain information from veterinarians in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Of the 374 respondents, 71.9% were males, 95.5% were practising veterinarians, and 76.2% had an up-to-date practising licence with the veterinary practice regulatory body. 33.4% were between 35 – 44 years old, and 31.8% had 5 – 10 years of experience practising in Nigeria. Only 11% of the respondents were ‘extremely familiar’ with animal cancers; most others (43.6%) were only ‘moderately familiar’ with animal cancers. Also, only 9.9% were ‘very confident’ of their knowledge of animal cancers; more than half of the respondents (51.9%) admitted that they are ‘fairly confident’ of their knowledge of animal cancers. Only 13.4% of the respondents admitted to having participated in educational initiatives on animal cancers, while 83.7% were interested in collaborating with researchers in improving animal cancer knowledge and awareness. A large proportion (90.1%) of the respondents admitted that awareness of animal cancers was important. The top five identified risks associated with the prevalence of animal cancers were genetic predisposition, dietary habits, environmental pollution, lack of diagnostic facilities, poor knowledge and poor awareness. Late presentation (75.7%), lack of specialised equipment (70.9%), financial constraints of animal owners (69.8%) and limited treatment options (68.4%) were some challenges faced by veterinarians when dealing with animal cancers. It was concluded that there was a significant gap in awareness and knowledge of animal cancers among veterinarians, and that there was a lack of access to care, along with poor institutional infrastructure dedicated to the diagnosis and management of animal cancers in Nigeria.

Keywords: Cancers in animals; Veterinarians; Knowledge; Awareness; Perceived risk factors; Nigeria.

How to cite this article:
Samuel ES, Ajisope EI, Oluwatuase IE, Alabi AJ, Adeaga EA, Olugasa BO and Ola-Davies OE (2025). Cross sectional survey of the awareness, knowledge and perception of veterinarians about cancers in animals, their occurrence in Nigeria and associated risk factors. Journal of Veterinary and Applied Sciences, 15(2): 1084 – 1098.

*Correspondence: E-mail:  sekundayo90@yahoo.com      Phone: +2348038905747

Cross sectional survey of the awareness, knowledge and perception of veterinarians about cancers in animals, their occurrence in Nigeria and associated risk factors
Ekundayo S. Samuel ^{1 *}, Emmanuel I. Ajisope ¹, Ifeoluwa E. Oluwatuase ², Adeolu J. Alabi ³, Emmanuel A. Adeaga ⁴, Babasola O. Olugasa ⁴ and Olufunke E. Ola-Davies <sup>1

1</sup> Oncology Research Unit, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
² Public Policy Unit, Department of Sociology, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

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