Are you one of the nearly half of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions? The good intentions that we make those New Year’s Resolutions with can fall by the wayside as days past January 1 tick by, but if you resolved to quit smoking, there’s news that might help you stick to that resolution: It’s not just healthier for you. It’s also healthier for your cat.
A study underway at the University of Glasgow shows a direct link between cats living in an environment where they are exposed to smoke. This includes a higher risk of health problems including cancers, cell damage and weight gain.
The risk of cancer in cats was already established in a previous study. Now Clare Kottenbelt, professor of Small Animal Medicine and Oncology at the University of Glasgow Small Animal Hospital has previewed the ongoing study, saying, “Our findings show that exposure to smoke in the home is having direct impact on pets. It risks ongoing cell damage, increasing weight gain after castration and has previously been shown to increase the risk of certain cancers.”
This new study shows that cats are affected more than dogs in a smoking environment, probably because of the amount of self-grooming cats do. Previous research has shown that a cat living in a smoking household has 14-15 cigarette’s worth of toxins in his fur. That’s a lot of toxic fur to keep tidy during grooming sessions!
The ASPCA recommends that smokers “take it outside” to smoke so that a large share of the smoke particles remain outside and don’t impact your outdoor cat. But data being collected during this new study makes that approach look less effective than previously thought. Reducing the number of tobacco products smoked in the home to less than 10 a day does help the nicotine levels in a cat’s hair to drop significantly, but the levels are still higher than in cats in non-smoking homes. According to Victoria Smith MRCVS, “Owners who consistently smoked away from the cat did not protect their cat from exposure but did reduce the amount of smoke that was taken into the body.” She also said, “Even having outdoor access makes very little difference.”
The best solution is to stick with that New Year’s resolution and kick the smoking habit. If you can’t do it for yourself, maybe you can for your four-footed friend who can’t make that choice for himself.
Research and further reading:
Statistc Brain, New Year’s Resolution Statistics
Medical Xpress, Quit Smoking for the Sake of Your Pets
Dr. Kate Hodgson, Pets in the Family: Impact on Human Health – Zooeyia
Creative Commons photos courtesy:
Igor Vtornick on flickr
Quit Tobacco on flickr
My human smoked when she had the cat before Sparkle, but she was an indoor-outdoor cat, so she didn’t always have to deal with it. She hated it, though, and let my human know every time she lit up. My human quit in the late 1990s and is so glad she did!
We hope all humans stop smoking…not just for their pets or themselves…just because it’s a nasty habit. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you for the great post! I heard recently on the news that fewer people are smoking than ever before…YAY!!!
a good reminder to quit to everyone
For sure nasty smoke…thank goodness my peeps have never done that.
Hugs madi your bfff
I hate smoke and it really bothers me when people smoke near their children and pets. Great post.
guys…grate post !!! de food servizz gurl quitted smokin on new yeerz eve 8 yeerz ago…her doez knot mizz it …..one bit….when we think oh all de cash moneez her coulda had….. that coulda been spent on treetz….sted oh smokez………oh whoa iz uz ~~~~~~~~~
🙂 ♥♥♥
Great post ! Mum doesn’t smoke, but Dad does : he ALWAYS goes outside, and washes his hands after that. It’s not good for him of course, but he doesn’t want to disturb anyone (two or four-legged) or get a stinky house or a stinky car because of his bad habit. Purrs
important information to share – and I love the “NO” photo.. 🙂
We are thankful no one ever developed that habit. It is a very very hard one to break. Hats off to anyone who does. But that said, grateful we are that no one smokes in our house.
My mom used to smoke but she’d go outside. Happily she quit almost 3 years ago now, and all that saved money has meant more treats for us!
Whoa! I was just thinking last night of rerunning my Blog the Change about Cats and Cigarette Smoke. When you smoke outside, the poison’s still on your clothes and hands so kitty gets it when they rub up against you or you pet them. TW says that smokers are animal abusers since they’re harming their pets.
Mom says she has never smoked (we wouldn’t know, she’s older than dirt and we haven’t been around that long) and we sure are glad. We support any pet parent who wants to quit!
Excellent post – it’s so awful to expose your cats to smoke and we appreciate you addressing that point. Purrs from Deb and the Zee/Zoey kitties