Kicking the Habit for Your Pet

Would you give up smoking to help your dog? (Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)

Despite numerous health warnings about smoking, many people still don’t want to give up their cigarettes. But now tobacco researchers have found a new motivation to help people kick the habit — the family pet.

Researchers at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit say few smokers realize that secondhand smoke poses a health threat to pets. They conducted an online survey of about 3,300 pet owners in Michigan. About one in five of the respondents were smokers, while 27 percent lived with a smoker.

Nearly one in three smokers said the health of a pet would motivate them to try to kick the habit, the researchers reported in the medical journal Tobacco Control. Among non-smoking pet owners, 16 percent said pet health would spur them to ask a smoking family member to quit, while 24 percent said they would at least ask the smoker to take it outside.

The findings, said the researchers, suggest that public health campaigns focused on pets and smoking may be an effective way to convince some smokers to quit, or at least to help make the home smoke-free for non-smoking family members and pets.

Studies show that smoking poses a significant health threat to dogs, cats and birds who inhale secondhand smoke. A study at Tufts College of Veterinary Medicine found a higher rate of mouth cancer in cats who live with smokers. Cats are particularly vulnerable because carcinogenic compounds in smoke settle on their fur, which then are ingested by the cat when it grooms. A smoker’s cat is also twice as likely to develop malignant lymphoma than a cat that lives with non-smokers.

Dogs who live with smokers are more likely to develop cancers in the nose and sinuses, according to a study at Colorado State University. Long-nosed dog breeds were at highest risk. Dogs with short or medium-length noses showed higher rates of lung cancer.

By TARA PARKER-POPE on Health – New York Times

Posted:  Just One More Pet – Cross Posted: True Health Is True Wealth

There are new studies questioning the legitimacy of secondhand smoke, but even if that turns out not to be a factor, it certainly isn’t pleasant for your pet, and the grooming aspects of pets cleaning the carcinogenic compounds from their fur and feathers certainly makes sense!!  JOMP~