Can Smoking Affect Your Pet's Health?

Passive smoking is the act of inhaling the toxic fumes from cigarettes without actually smoking cigarettes yourself. When another person smokes in an enclosed environment that you are in, naturally you will inhale smoke and breathe in many of the harmful chemicals associated with cigarettes. While not inhaling quite the volume of the person smoking, nonetheless the harmful chemicals are ingested into your respiratory system, mouth and throat and can cause any one of the many types of cancer or other harmful effects known to be caused by smoking. Naturally this effect is not only combined to humans but to any creature that breathes the smoke-filled air -- including pets.

  1. Cats and Cancer

    • Cats and other pets have much smaller and more delicate respiratory systems than humans and are particularly vulnerable to the inhalation of second-hand smoke. Cats are particularly susceptible to mouth cancer. Cats' grooming habits requires them to be constantly licking their fur and this transfers many of the harmful chemicals that have settled on their coats directly into their mouths. Furthermore, cats that live with a smoker have twice the chance of developing malignant lymphoma -- a cancer that occurs in the lymph nodes. Within 12 months of contraction, tt is fatal to three out of four cats.

    Dogs

    • Long-nosed dogs have a very large and sensitive nasal surface and this very susceptible to accumulating toxins, resulting in the development of nasal cancer that can kill dogs very quickly. Dogs with smaller snouts and nasal areas are more prone to developing lung cancer. Another health danger to dogs is the ingestion of cigarette butts. Dogs can be unfussy at what they eat sometimes, and the ingestion of cigarette butts containing concentrated toxins can be very harmful.

    Asthma

    • Studies have shown that passive smoking can cause breathing complications such as asthma. Cats and dogs are susceptible to developing asthma and this condition is far more likely to be fatal for them than it is for humans who know how to respond to attacks.

    Other Pets

    • All pets are affected adversely by the negative effects of passive smoking and the smaller the pet the more drastic these effect can be. Hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, reptiles -- all have small and delicate breathing systems. Birds in particular have respiratory systems that are highly sensitive to pollutants and are at risk of developing lung cancer and pneumonia.