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Second-Hand Smoke Affects Pets
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 IS giving up smoking amongst your New Year’s resolutions? Well, that could be good news for your pets too. Second-hand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS, is associated with cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular disease in humans. Several studies have shown that up to 20 different carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke can be inhaled by non-smoking bystanders.
Dr. Timothy Fan, veterinary oncologist at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, explains that, although the association between ETS and diseases in animals have not been as extensively researched, some studies show a correlation between ETS and certain forms of cancer in pets.
A Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine study found a strong correlation between ETS and an oral cancer, ‘squamous cell carcinoma’, in cats. Cats living with smokers had a higher incidence of this type of cancer. Cats living with more than one smoker and those exposed to ETS for longer than five years have an even higher incidence of this cancer.
Why mouth cancer? Since cats groom themselves diligently, those in smoking households can lick up carcinogens deposited on their fur. Daily grooming over a long period of time can expose the delicate skin in the mouth to hazardous quantities of these carcinogens. The University of Massachusetts in Amherst also found that cats exposed to ETS have a slightly elevated risk of developing malignant lymphoma, or cancer of the lymph nodes. Since the lymph nodes filter the blood, inhaled or ingested carcinogens can build up in these structures.
In dogs, ETS is significantly associated with nasal sinus cancer and weakly associated with lung cancer. A study at Colorado State found a higher incidence of nasal cavity tumours in dogs exposed to ETS than in those living in a non-smoking environment. The high incidence was specifically amongst long-nosed breeds such as Collies and there was no significant increase in nasal tumours amongst short- to medium-nosed dogs.
Dr. Fan said that longer-nosed dogs may have a higher incidence of ETS-induced tumours for two reasons. “Smokers inhale smoke through their mouths and it ends up in the lungs. Bystanders, on the other hand, usually inhale ETS through the nose.” Long-nosed dogs’ nasal passages have a greater surface area on which carcinogens may be deposited. Since the nasal passages have a greater number of cells, there is a greater chance that one of these cells can be mutated by carcinogens into a cancer cell.”
Colorado State also found that, although short-to-medium-nosed dogs, exposed to ETS, don’t have a greater incidence of nasal tumors, they do have a slightly higher incidence of lung cancer, possibly because their shorter nasal passages are less effective at filtering carcinogens out of the inhaled air before it reaches the lungs. Unlike humans, who can develop bladder cancer as a result of ETS, dogs and cats generally don’t run a higher risk of bladder cancer when exposed.
As the human-animal bond becomes stronger, we share more of our lives, leisure time and living space with our animals and they become exposed to the same environmental hazards that we do. Designating a smoking area outside, or in a separate room, may minimize ETS exposure for pets and non-smoking family-members. |  Return to Top
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