Secondhand Smoke & Your Dog

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SECONDHAND SMOKE & YOUR PET

Secondhand Smoke Is A Health Threat To Pets
ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2007) — It has been in the news for years about how secondhand
smoke is a health threat to nonsmokers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
indicates that secondhand smoke is attributed with killing thousands of adult nonsmokers
annually.

If smoking is that harmful to human beings, it would make sense that secondhand smoke
would have an adverse effect on pets that live in the homes of smokers, said Dr. Carolynn
MacAllister, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian.

“There have been a number of scientific papers recently that have reported the significant
health threat secondhand smoke poses to pets,” MacAllister said. “Secondhand smoke has
been associated with oral cancer and lymphoma in cats, lung and nasal cancer in dogs, as well
as lung cancer in birds.”

She said a study conducted recently at Tufts College of Veterinary Medicine found a strong
correlation between secondhand smoke and certain forms of cancer in cats. The number of
cats with mouth cancer, also known as squamous cell carcinoma, was higher for those animals
living in smoking environments versus those felines living in a smoke-free home. In addition,
cats that lived with smokers for five or more years had an even higher incidence of this
type of oral cancer.

“One reason cats are so susceptible to secondhand smoke is because of their grooming
habits. Cats constantly lick themselves while grooming, therefore they lick up the cancer-
causing carcinogens that accumulate on their fur,” MacAllister said. “This grooming behavior
exposes the mucous membrane of their mouth to the cancer-causing carcinogens.”

Malignant lymphoma is another type of cancer that cats that live with smokers have a higher
risk of getting. This cancer occurs in the lymph nodes and cats are twice as likely to have
this type of cancer compared to cats living in a non-smoking home. This form of cancer is
fatal to three out of four cats within 12 months of developing the cancer.
MacAllister also pointed out that secondhand smoke is greatly associated with the increased
occurrence of cancer in the nose and sinus area among dogs. Research also indicates an
association with lung cancer.

“A recent study conducted at Colorado State University shows that there is a higher
incidence of nasal tumors in dogs living in a home with secondhand smoke compared to dogs
living in a smoke free environment,” she said. “The increased incidence was specifically
found among the long nosed breed of dogs. Shorter or medium nosed dogs showed higher
rates for lung cancer.”

MacAllister said the longer nosed breeds of dogs have a great surface area in their noses
that is exposed to the carcinogens. This also provides more area in which the carcinogens can
accumulate. The carcinogens tend to build up on the mucous membranes of long nosed dogs so
not as much reaches the lungs.

Unfortunately, dogs affected with nasal cancer normally do not survive more than one year.
“The reason short and medium nose dogs have a higher occurrence of lung cancer is because
their shorter nasal passages aren’t as effective at accumulating the inhaled secondhand
smoke carcinogens,” she said. “This results in more carcinogens reaching the lungs.”

Pet birds also are victims of secondhand smoke. A bird’s respiratory system is
hypersensitive to any type of pollutant in the air.

MacAllister said the most serious consequences of secondhand smoke exposure in birds are
pneumonia or lung cancer. Other health risks include eye, skin, heart and fertility problems.

Secondhand smoke is not the only danger faced by pets that live in smoke filled
environments. Poisoning is another risk they face.

“Curious pets can eat cigarettes and other tobacco products if the products aren’t stored
properly,” MacAllister said. “When ingested, this can cause nicotine poisoning, which can be
fatal.”

It is important, both for the health of pets and others living in the household, that the
smoker has a designated area in which to smoke that is physically separated from the home.
In addition, always keep cigarettes, cigarette butts and other tobacco products put away.

“A better choice that could enhance your chances of enjoying a healthier lifestyle with your
family and pets would be to stop smoking altogether,” MacAllister said.
Adapted from materials provided by Oklahoma State University.

New Evidence that Secondhand Smoke Harms Pets
By JULIA SZABO NY Post

Of all the compelling reasons to quit smoking, this one should make pet lovers sit up and take
notice: there's ample scientific evidence to suggest that secondhand cigarette smoke can
cause cancer in companion animals.

And your furry friends don't just inhale smoke; the smoke particles are also trapped in their
fur and ingested when they groom themselves with their tongues. A study published in the
American Journal of Epidemiology found that dogs in smoking households had a 60 percent
greater risk of lung cancer; a different study published in the same journal showed that long-
nosed dogs, such as collies or greyhounds, were twice as likely to develop nasal cancer if
they lived with smokers.

And in yet another study, vets from Tufts University found that cats whose owners smoked
were three times as likely to develop lymphoma, the most common feline cancer.
So - short of kicking the habit - Garnant and her husband take three of the cats to the vet
at least twice a year for checkups; the fourth, Barney, goes every three months.

Pets and secondhand smoke
by Linda Lechler

She sits by the window of her third story apartment hovered in a small corner of the room
smoking a cigarette and thinking about Jack Daniels.

No, Sarah Billings is not a closet smoker or alcoholic but a pet owner who cares deeply for
Jack, her 5-year-old hound-dog mix. She has known Jack for his whole life and is concerned
about how her secondhand smoke may affect him.

"Dogs age almost seven times faster than us," Billings said, a junior majoring in psychology.
"Secondhand smoke can cause problems fast. I take Jack (to the vet) frequently and he
appears to be fine," Billings said. "But they don't do any specific tests to see early signs (of
secondhand smoke)."

Billings said she has smoked cigarettes around Jack for half of a year and worries about his
sporadic wheezing, coughing and hyperventilating around cigarette smoke.
"I am close with my dog," Billings said. "I would never forgive myself if I caused his early
demise."

Billings, along with other pet owners, is slowly becoming aware of the effects of secondhand
smoke on pets. Two studies were done at CSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital headed by
John Reif, professor of epidemiology, and the department chairman for environmental and
radiological health sciences, and associates that helped to bring awareness of secondhand
smoke to the public.

In 1992, Reif conducted a study entitled, "Passive Smoking and Canine Lung Cancer Risk."
Reif also headed the second study of similar interests, in 1998, titled "Cancer of the Nasal
Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses and Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Pet Dogs."

"These studies are really the first to make us aware of secondhand smoke on animals," Reif
said. "They are the first of their kind."

There were several factors taken into consideration during the studies, such as number of
smokers in the home, number of packs of cigarettes smoked in the home per day by the
heaviest smoker, the time the dog spent inside the home, and the age, sex, body size and
skull shape of the dog.

"All these factors involved are important," Reif said. "All exposures are contributing
factors."

According to the study, a dog that has exposure to a smoker in the home is 1.6 times more
likely to develop lung cancer than a dog that is not exposed to a smoker.

The study found that skull shape had an effect on the estimated risk of lung cancer in dogs.
Dogs with long noses (like German shepherds) have a higher risk for nasal cancer and dogs
with short noses (like pugs) have a higher risk for lung cancer, Reif said. This is because, in
theory, a dog with a long nose has an extra filtering system in its nose, so it is more likely to
develop nasal cancers, Reif said.

"Both studies are important because they show exposure to secondhand smoke has an
increased risk for cancer of respiratory system in dogs," Reif said.

He said some of the warning signs of lung cancer in dogs include chronic coughing, weight loss
and abnormal fatigue. Warning signs of nasal cancer include swelling over the nose or sinus
area, sneezing and bloody nasal discharge, Reif said.

The only real prevention for these cancers is to not smoke around your pets, Reif said.
"Obviously people are encouraged not to smoke," he said. "People who choose to smoke should
do so away from pets, outdoors."

Although the public is slowly becoming aware of the effects of secondhand smoke through
studies like these, the concept is still unknown to many. Out of 20 random practicing
veterinarians called in the Fort Collins and Loveland yellow pages, not one of them knew a lot
about any studies done about the effects of secondhand smoke and pets. Also, none of these
veterinarians are currently talking to their clients about secondhand smoke's potential
negative effects.