Can smoking be as equally harmful to pets as it can to us?

Question

I mean you never hear of dogs or cats dying of lung cancer do u?... I ask this as my husband is quite a heavy smoker, the cats sit on his knee as he smokes and i wonder sometimes if it effects them.......

Answer 1

Hi Penny...as many others has noted, second-hand smoke affects pets just as it does humans and sometimes worse. Hopefully, you can share the following information with your husband so he can help minimize the health risks of second-hand smoking to the pets.

Here are two articles which discuss the dangers of second-hand smoke to pets.
Univ of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine:
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=473'
Second-hand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS, is clearly associated with cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular disease in humans. Several studies have shown that up to 20 different carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke can be inhaled by non-smoking bystanders.

Dr. Timothy Fan, veterinary oncologist at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, explains that although associations between ETS and diseases in animals have not been as extensively researched, a handful of studies show a correlation between ETS and certain forms of cancer in pets.

A Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine study found a strong correlation between ETS and an oral cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, in cats. Cats living with smokers had higher incidence of this type of cancer. Cats living with more than one smoker and cats exposed to ETS for longer than five years have an even higher incidence of this cancer.

Why mouth cancer? Since cats groom themselves quite diligently, cats in smoking households can lick up carcinogens that have been deposited on their fur. Daily grooming over a long period of time can expose the delicate skin in the mouth to hazardous amounts of carcinogens.

The University of Massachusetts in Amherst also found that cats exposed to ETS have a slightly elevated risk of developing malignant lymphoma, or cancer of the lymph nodes. Since the lymph nodes filter the blood, inhaled or ingested carcinogens can build up in these structures.

In dogs, ETS is significantly associated with nasal sinus cancer and weakly associated with lung cancer. A study at Colorado State found a higher incidence of nasal cavity tumors in dogs exposed to ETS than in dogs that live in non-smoking households. This higher incidence was specifically found amongst long-nosed breed dogs such as Collies, and there was no significant increase in nasal tumors amongst short- to medium-nosed dogs exposed to ETS.

Dr. Fan explains that longer-nosed dogs may have a higher incidence of ETS-induced tumors for two reasons. "Smokers inhale smoke through their mouths, and it ends up depositing in the lungs. Bystanders, on the other hand, usually inhale ETS through the nose." Long-nosed dogs' nasal passages have a greater surface area on which carcinogens may be deposited before reaching the lungs.

"In addition," says Dr. Fan, "since a longer nose has nasal passages with a greater number of cells, there is a greater chance that one of these cells can be mutated by carcinogens into a cancer cell."

Colorado State also found that although short- to medium-nosed dogs exposed to ETS dont have a greater incidence of nasal tumors than those unexposed, they do have a slightly higher incidence of lung cancer, possibly because their shorter nasal passages are less effective at filtering carcinogens out of inhaled air before it reaches the lungs.

Unlike humans, who can develop bladder cancer as a result of ETS exposure, dogs and cats generally don't run a higher risk of bladder cancer when exposed.

As the human-animal bond becomes stronger, we share more of our lives, our leisure time and our living space with our companion animals, and they become exposed to the same environmental hazards that we do. Many of our habits, including smoking, can affect our pets as they would affect any other member of our household.
Designating a smoking area outside or in a physically separate room of the house may be on way to minimize ETS exposure for pets and other non-smoking family members.

For more information about environmental tobacco smoke and your pet, consult your veterinarian.

Another article about lymphoma risks increased due to second-hand smoking: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2002/07/31/smoke_cats020731.html

Answer 2

Vets will say yes! Some animals are effected by respitory diseases but Its the over-weight pampered pets as well!
I visit the Vets and I have a friend who's one too. Both say more pets die of strokes and heart attacks because of being over-weight or unfit regardless of whether the owners are smokers or not.
Personally in 40 years smoking not one of my animals has died of an illness that could not be equally caused by old age. The only young animals I've lost were either to an accident or an illness not related to smoking! My animals rarely cough and the normal cause is fur-balls! So I've either been incredibly lucky or the healthy life styles of the animals keeps them disease free!

Answer 3

Yes it effects them the same way second hand smoke effects people. And i work at a vet clinic, and i have seen a dog die of lung cancer. They don't know the REAL cause, but it definitely didn't help that both his owners were smokers.

Answer 4

well smoking is harmfull to your pets just ask a non smoker when
did they last paint their white ceiling i bet they say a few years ago and then look at your ceiling and think when you last did yours also if some one suffers from astma smoking anywhere in the house is banned so i think the answer would be yes Ps I used to get through 60 a day now i donnt smoke

Answer 5

Animals can be victims of passive smoking. Most cases revolve around humans, but animals do suffer respiratory infections, cancer and shortened lives the same as humans. This can be due to smoking and other environmental pollutants.

Answer 6

Ive just started worrying about this myself .I have a yorkie and i smoke around it even though I didn,t smoke near the kids growing up.Just lately I look at him and think he has small lungs and no different than ours so I should go out and have a ciggy,I am trying

Answer 7

YES...YES....YES!!!! Tell him (Hubby) to smoke elsewhere, Dogs and cats are just as affected as humans. I am a smoker with 6 dogs and I dont smoke near them, or in any area they use.

Answer 8

Yes! My neighbors smoke in their house and they have two dogs. Both constantly cough. It is a very sad thing to watch.

Answer 9

of course it affects them. no one should smoke inside their home or anyone else's.a person that likes living alone and not having any company can smoke in their own home. all of our friends and family smoke outside, even in their own homes. smoke isn't good for any animal or human lungs.

Answer 10

yes it can,i breed budgerigars and smoked 20 plus fags a day and this affected my birds.budgerigars are very prone to dying of cancer.

Answer 11

Yes, especially to cats and dogs.