Before I began practicing in my family’s veterinary hospital, my father had declared the hospital off limits to our employees and clients who smoked.  This was way before it was the norm to have smoke free environments but he was concerned about the pets in our hospital’s care and, quite frankly, did not like the smell himself.  Fast forward to 2010 where we now know    secondhand smoke isn’t just a health threat to people, it can also hurt our dogs and cats.  

My colleague, Carolynn MacAllister, DVM  of Oklahoma State University says making the leap from the effects of secondhand smoke on humans to their effects on pets isn’t a big one.   “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.”

As a mother, I cringe when I see a parent blowing smoke in a young child’s face and as a veterinarian, I can’t help but notice when I am driving down the road and see a smoke filled car with a small dog sitting in the driver’s lap.  Our two- legged and four- legged children don’t have any way of escaping. 

Coming down from my soapbox, let me just share with you my experiences as a practicing veterinarian. 

Cats are susceptible to secondhand smoke because of their grooming habits.  Cats constantly lick themselves while grooming, therefore they expose their mucous membranes in their mouths to the cancer-causing carcinogens that accumulate on their fur.  Statistics show that cats living with smokers are twice as likely to develop malignant lymphoma, a cancer that occurs in the lymph nodes and is fatal to three out of four cats within 12 months of developing the disease.  Mouth cancers are often discovered in our hospital while we have the pet under anesthesia for dental cleanings. 

Studies have also shown that dogs living in a smoking household are susceptible to cancers of the nose and sinus area, particularly if they are a long-nosed breed, because their noses have a greater surface area that is exposed to carcinogens and a greater area for them to accumulate. Dogs affected with nasal cancer normally don’t survive for more than one year.

As mothers, being aware of the air quality around our families is certainly important.  If you must smoke, removing yourself from the area that your children and your pets frequent is certainly helpful.   Clients are often surprised when I am taking history on a pet if I ask if there is a smoker in the house.  If a pet is presenting to me with a cough, it is knowledge that I  use for rule outs in my diagnostic plan.  Being the pet advocate that I vowed to be, I encourage my smoking readers to consider their pets when they choose make this life choice.