Secondhand Smoke Affects Pets, Too
Written by: Christina Mehra, Staff Writer @ Vetcentric.com

Cigarette smoke is harmful to your whole family -- and that includes your pet. And if your dog has a long nose, it may be in particular danger.

If you're a smoker and a pet owner, it is probably not a good idea to smoke in the same room as your cat or dog. Just as second-hand smoke is harmful to other people and can even cause cancer in non-smokers it has also been associated with lung and nasal cancer in dogs.

In two studies conducted by John Reif, DVM, who directs the Department of Environmental Health at Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, dogs that lived with smokers were more likely to have cancer than dogs that lived with non-smokers.

While some breeds are more susceptible to certain types of cancer, all dogs that live with smokers are at a greater risk for some form of cancer than dogs that live in non-smoking homes.

Dr. Reif speculated that long-nosed dogs filter out smoke and carcinogens through their noses and are thus at greater risk for nasal cancer than are short-nosed dogs. However, he also speculated that in short-nosed dogs, the carcinogens go straight to the lungs and get trapped there, making the short-nosed dogs more vulnerable to lung cancer.

According to the study, long-nosed dogs with nasal cancer were two and half times more likely to live in smoking households than among non-smokers. Short-nosed dogs with lung cancer were 2.4 times more likely to be kept in a smoking household than in a non-smoking household.

Dr. Reif said he would not go so far as to say smokers should not have dogs, but he did say that they should be aware of potential health risks to their canine companions.

So far, there haven't been any studies on cancer in cats and second-hand smoke, but other studies have found cigarette smoke has been associated with respiratory problems in cats, such as asthma. For that reason, said Dr. Reif, pet owners should not smoke around their cats, either. Knowing the dangers that second-hand smoke poses to humans and dogs, it is safe to assume that cats that are at risk as well.

Philip Kass, DVM, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Davis, is studying just that: his research examines the relationship between second-hand smoke and primary lung and nasal cancer in both cats and dogs. The study should be completed later this year. So far, he is not convinced that second-hand smoke causes cancer in pets.

"The evidence just isn't in yet to state that second-hand smoke causes health problems in pets. It may or it may not, but we're far from an answer."

While he is not that sure pet owners who smoke need to worry about causing cancer, Dr. Kass said that they should take precautions anyway.

And even if you do take measures to smoke away from your pet, smokers should be aware of additional dangers. According to Jill Richardson, DVM, of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal's Animal Poison Control Center, an animal can show signs of toxicity within 15 to 45 minutes after eating cigarettes or cigarette butts. Death often results.

Dogs are more likely than cats to eat cigarettes, and surprisingly, birds that let loose in the house may shred and chew on them, too, she said.

Although you'd think cigarettes would taste unpleasant to pets, that doesn't stop some of them, especially dogs.
"When [dogs] do eat them, they eat the whole thing," Dr. Richardson said.

Even nicotine gum, patches, and used ashtrays left out can be harmful to pets, she added. "If the dog eats several butts in the ashtray, you might have a problem."

Dr. Kass agreed and said pet owners should be more concerned about pets ingesting cigarettes than inhaling second-hand smoke. While second-smoke has not been proven to cause cancer, ingesting nicotine is a definite danger.
"Cigarettes contain nicotine, which no one disputes is a poison. If dogs or cats chew or swallow any tobacco products, including cigarettes, they run the risk of being poisoned, perhaps fatally," he said. "So I would strongly advise pet owners to keep cigarettes, ashtrays, chewing tobacco, cigars, etc., away from their pets."

Add to that list any products used by people who are quitting smoking, Dr. Richardson said, and if your pet does eat any nicotine, call the veterinarian. Depending on the animal, the vet may need to induce vomiting or pump the stomach.
In addition to the possible risk of cancer and the risk of nicotine poisoning, smoking may also cause or worsen asthma in cats.

Robert Carlson, DVM, owner of The Cat Doctor clinic in Bedford, Mass., believes any kind of smoke is bad for cats' health.

He said he has seen several cats with respiratory problems where he suspected second-hand smoke was to blame.
"We have one documented case," he said, explaining that one cat lived with a cigar smoker. The good news is that once the owner stopped smoking near the cat, the cat's health was restored.

Asthma can be caused in cats, just as it is in people, by "any kind of irritant to the system," Dr. Carlson said, and that includes cigarette smoke.

His advice for pet owners is to quit smoking, and if that is not possible, to at least do it outside, away from the animal. To smoke in the house with an indoor cat that can not help but breathe in the second-hand smoke is just not fair, he said.
So even though no one can say for sure whether smoking causes cancer or asthma in pets, it doesn't hurt to protect your companion animals.

"If we waited to have absolute proof, which is technically impossible in medical science," Dr. Kass said, "we'd never make decisions that lead to healthier lives."

*Article courtesy of VetCentric.com
Originally published October 26, 2007
Written by: Christina Mehra, Staff Writer
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