Feline cancer epidemiologic studies from North America all date prior to 1980 and suggest hemolymphatic cancers are the most common types of cancer. More recent publications are mainly European and suggest the integument is the most commonly affected system. This may be due to geographical or temporal differences. This study aimed to describe and compare the occurrence of cancer using a North American and Danish population of cats from the same time period.

Cases from the Danish Veterinary Cancer Registry (DVCR) and UC-Davis (UCD) between 2005 and 2013 were included, finding 511 neoplasms from 479 cats (DVCR) and 1544 neoplasms from 1352 cats (UCD). There were significantly more neutered males and females (p=0.041 and p<0.001) and a significantly higher percentage of malignant tumors from UCD (p<0.001) compared to the DVCR. Epithelial neoplasms were the most common tissue in both data sets. Skin and adnexa were the most commonly affected sites in both groups, followed by the gastrointestinal system. Intact females had a similar relative risk of having mammary neoplasia compared to neutered females in both data sets (UCD 5.35 [1.53–18.65], DVCR 5.42 [4.02–7.31]), but there was a significant higher proportion of mammary gland tumors in the Danish data (p<0.001).

Comparison between Danish and American cats showed that epithelial tissue and the integument were most commonly affected at both sites. The higher proportion of mammary gland tumors in DVCR data is likely related to the higher percentage of intact females.

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