South Africa has a high probability for sunshine and therefore also a high probability for sun-associated tumours of the skin. These tumours are a recognised neoplasm in domestic cats. According to Madewell, although few risk factors have been established for most tumours of domestic animals, lack of pigment on nose, ears, and eyelids, and exposure to sunlight are known to increase risk for squamous cell carcinoma in the cat.

Another syndrome of sunlight-associated skin cancer has been recognised in dogs: tumours develop in lightly pigmented glabrous skin of the flank or ventral abdomen after chronic sunlight exposure and long periods of dermatosis.Although any lightly pigmented dog is at risk, tumours have been recognised most often in beagles, dalmatians, whippets, and white bull terriers.

Preventative measure for dogs and cats at risk for sunlight-associated neoplasms include the use of sunscreen agents and restriction of the animals exposure to direct sunlight.*

PetScreen SPF23 contains four different sunscreen agents to give animals broad-spectrum protection from both UVA (the ultraviolet radiation which damages the skin with more long-term effects) & UVB (the ultraviolet radiation which causes sunburn) components of sunlight. The product has a Sun Protection Factor of 23, tested on human skin. This is adequate for protection of animals from the long-term effects of excessive exposure to the sun.