Critter Talk: Your smoking kills your pets
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One of my uncles quit smoking a few years ago after a decades-long, multiple-pack-a-day habit.
He had tried quitting smoking in the past and I think the biggest difference this time around was the birth of his first grandchild. Not only did he want to protect her from the dangers associated with second hand smoke, but I’m sure he also wanted to do everything possible to ensure he’d be around to see her grow up.
Kids and grand kids are a great reason to stop smoking, but so are pets. More and more evidence is coming to light proving just how dangerous second and third hand smoke is to the animals that share our homes. Second hand smoke is smoke that is exhaled or otherwise escapes into the air and can be inhaled by non-smokers, including pets. Third hand smoke is the residue that remains on skin, fur, clothing, furniture, etc., even after the air has cleared. Both of these categories can be combined under the heading “environmental tobacco smoke,” or ETS.
One of the best studies I’ve seen on this topic linked an increased risk of malignant lymphoma (also called lymphoma or lymphosarcoma) in cats with exposure to ETS. The results showed that the relative risk for malignant lymphoma in cats with any household ETS exposure was almost 2 ½ times as great as that seen in cats living in smoke-free households. For cats with five or more years of ETS exposure the relative risk climbed to 3.2.
This study and others also strongly suggest a link between oral cancer in cats and environmental tobacco smoke. These cats are probably grooming the toxins contained in tobacco smoke off of their fur, which results in damage to and cancer of their oral mucous membranes.
Dogs aren’t immune to the effects of ETS. Research has shown that dogs living with smokers are more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases (e.g., asthma and bronchitis) and lung cancer than are dogs that live in smoke-free homes. Also, the risk of nasal cancer increases 2 ½ times in long-nosed dog breeds that have been exposed to high levels of environmental tobacco smoke.
These results shouldn’t be too surprising. The numerous poisons found in cigarette smoke build up in the nasal passages of long-nosed dogs, but are more able to make their way to the lungs of dogs with short or “normal” noses.
Eye problems and skin reactions can also be seen in any type of pet exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.
Owners are always on the lookout for simple ways to keep their pets as healthy as possible. Maintaining a smoke-free home certainly is one way to do this.
Dr. Jennifer Coates writing for PETMd
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The Chinese have a saying: a long life or a short life are exactly the same – they are both merely moments in time.
American’s in general are so obsessed with living long or living super-healthy lives while they’re here and telling everyone else how to live while they stuff their faces with exhorbanent amounts of garbage (fast food, alcohol, etc). Guess what – obesity is the biggest killer in America. And alcohol causes millions more deaths worldwide than tobacco.
Look, if smoking doesn’t kill you, something else will. It really doesn’t matter. Better to enjoy your life doing the things that make you happy.
Your pet doesn’t care if you smoke or don’t or if the smoke kills them or you or anyone else. They live in the moment as should you.
In the grand scheme of things, our lives are but a mere mustard burp compared to the 13.7 billion years the universe has been here.
Stop worrying about shit and just do what you want. It will all be over in the twinkling of an eye – or in the puff of a butt.
PS @ RickRay, my grandmother smoked Camel non-filters all her adult life, lived to be 97, never sick and died pleasantly in her sleep. Cancer is 98% hereditary. Whether you smoke or not has little to do with it.
I’ve been a smoker for 35 years, been an athelete even longer, never been ill (except for an occasional winter cold), have only 7% body fat, a balanced LDL/HDL and my bi-yearly checkup has yet to reveal any damage to my lungs or circulatory system.
So, put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Smoking?! Killed both my parents with lung cancer at ages 59 and 62. Killed an aunt with throat cancer at 37. I had to breathe the “shit” all of my childhood. Smoking disgusts me! I wish someone would bomb the tobacco companies since the gov’t does little to protect us from it. Oh yeah, big company, big taxes so they can fund their war machine.