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THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🩻 At home cancer screening for your dog has arrived

• 😰 Chewy stock down 78%

• 🗣️ Stella the talking dog

🩻 AT HOME CANCER SCREENING FOR YOUR DOG HAS ARRIVED

Cancer is a scary word for both humans and dogs.

For us, more of the fear comes not from the idea of getting cancer, but from having it and not knowing.

The earlier you know, the more options you have for treatment, changes in lifestyle, or to just savor the time you have.

This is why our ears perked up when we came across Oncotect, an at home cancer screening test specifically for pooches.

They claim to be the worlds only at-home test (our quick Google search didn't turn up any other at-home tests), and use urine as the testing substance for easier use.

Oncotect was founded by Chan Namgong, an entreprenuer from North Carolina.

What's interesting is that Chan doesn't have a veterinary or science background (he's got a business degree), and instead became interested in the cancer detection space after his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

He learned more about the options available and found that there were no at home tests for dogs.

Realizing the opportunity, he founded the company and developed the test with the help of a scientist from NC State.

Before we get into the test itself, a few more interesting business aspects we dug up:

• The company is totally bootstrapped by Chan himself.

• They compete against PetDX, which has raised over $10million from venture capital investors.

• They retail at $249.99 vs. PetDX which can run over $1,000.

Ok, now on to the test itself.

Their website says that they have been clinically tested with over 600 dogs, and is recommended by 60+ vets, with a 90% accuracy rate.

There are also some ideal criteria for which dogs the test is best for:

• Senior dogs 7 or older

• High risk breeds such as boxers, retrievers, rottweilers, and other larger breeds

• • Melanoma

  • Lymphoma

  • Mast cells tumor

  • Hemangiosarcoma

• They recommend an annual screening as part of a standard health protocol.

The test relies on 2ml of urine to be captured (which sounds easier than it probably is), versus a blood draw like other tests utilize.

The urine is analyzed for volatile metabolites that are associated w/ cancer.

The test doesn't actually diagnose the type of cancer, it measures the metabolites and gives a "low", "moderate", or "high" results.

So while you get an early indication, you likely will need to do more complete diagnostic tests if you get a moderate or high result.

It's unclear if insurance would cover the cost of the test, and depends on your carrier.

Alright, time to reflect!

We think this is a great step for proactive health in dogs.

Sure it's not cheap ($249, though cheaper than other options), it's only 90% accurate, and it doesn't diagnose the actual cancer.

BUT, it provides something incredibly valuable information about your dogs health.

If there is only one at-home option now, there will be more later, and cost will continue to come down.

Time is the most precious resource with our pets, and we feel like this type of proactive health screening gives us more information about the time we have left, or how to get more.

😰 CHEWY STOCK DOWN 78%

Chewy Inc., the online pet mecca renowned for its efficient pet product deliveries and exceptional customer service, has continuously experienced ruff price action with its’ stock, leaving investors with some serious concerns.

How bad is it?

The stock is down 📉 78% in the last 3 years.

Key factors affecting Chewy's stock performance.

Chewy made a memorable debut on the stock market in 2019, with shares surging over 50% on their first day of trading.

This success was attributed to the company's ability to tap into the growing trend of pet owners treating their animals as family members, providing an easy and convenient way to meet their pet-related needs.

However, in late 2020, as the initial pet adoption boom during the pandemic slowed down, concerns arose about its future growth prospects, leading to a decline in its stock price.

Chewy responded to this challenge by diversifying its product offerings, improving its e-commerce platform, and strengthening customer loyalty programs.

These strategic moves proved effective, as pet ownership continued to rise even after the pandemic.

Chewy's stock rebounded, reflecting its resilience and adaptability.

Nonetheless, Chewy experienced another setback when it reported disappointing earnings in late 2022.

This resulted in a significant drop in its stock price, raising concerns about increased competition from big-box retailers (e.g. Petco, Amazon & Petsmart) and other online pet supply companies.

Despite these fluctuations, Chewy remains a prominent player in the pet e-commerce industry.

They have 20.3M active monthly users that contribute $500+ of revenue each quarter.

This last quarter they achieved an 8.2% increase in revenue, totaling a whopping $2.74B.

The true trouble lies in Chewy’s efficiencies and ability to eek out a healthy profit margin — the company has only been able to secure a 0.1% net income margin over the last four quarters.

The pet industry's long-term growth potential remains intact, driven by the enduring bond between pet owners and their furry family members.

However, some analysts are saying that with Chewy’s growing revenue, poor profit margin, and dwindling stock price, now might be the time for an acquisition from a giant like Amazon or Walmart.

Two companies that know how to operate a lean-mean money making machine.

🗣️ STELLA THE TALKING DOG

Stella, the Catahoula/Blue Heeler can talk.

Ok, maybe we are using the word "talk" liberally, but Stella sure seems to be able to communicate using a board w/ buttons that has pre-programmed words on them.

Take a look here:

Stella is owned by Christina Hunger, a speech therapist who specializes in working w/ children that have language delays.

In her work, she uses a lot of non-verbal communication tools, like eye activated devices or speech tablets.

When she got Stella as a puppy, she had this lightbulb moment of wondering why if dog's can understand simple words, they can't also "speak.”

Combine that thought with a non-verbal communication tool and you had the first steps at a "talking" dog.

Christina started by combining actions like pointing outside with pushing the button that said "outside.”

She repeated this process for a few hours each day until Stella began to associate the word with the action.

This was no easy feat as it took Stella a month before she seemed to grasp her first word.

Stella's learning picked up as she got the hang of things, and she was soon able to string words together and now has about 50 different words and phrases she can use to communicate.

As you might have guessed, this ability was VERY popular on the internet.

Stella went viral and currently Christina's Instagram is approaching 800k followers.

Christina smartly leveraged her experience to write a best selling book "How Stella Learned to Talk" that chronicled her and Stella's verbal journey.

She also sells different button kits as well as training materials on her website.

Soooooo, can dogs really talk?

Well, there are a lot of opinions on both sides and not a ton we found to scientifically say yay or nay.

We weren't able to find any concrete studies that backed up the claims that dogs can learn to talk using non-verbal devices, BUT, as owners we are pretty sure our dogs understand a few words.

We did find a study that is currently active at UC San Diego to determine if the buttons can be used to communicate, buuuuuut, that study is in partnership with FluentPet, who sells the buttons and soundboards...seems like a bit of a conflict of interest.

So we are torn on this one and don't have a clear answer.

So we say to you the reader, maybe give it a shot for yourself!

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: DOGGYDEX

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🥹 US Navy vet gets a surprise pup: The NY Giants surprised a Navy vet, John, with a service dog named Storm after his 36 years of service and suffering a traumatic brain injury.

• 🎨 Astonishing scratchboard pet portraits: Allie Raines hand draws dogs to near perfection on scratchboard, capturing every little detail.

• 🤸 The halftime duo: Christian and his Chihuahua, Scooby, are an acrobatic duo performing stunts at halftime shows for the NFL, NBA, WNBA and NCAA!

DOGGY B-DAY

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.