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How Cigarettes and Smoking Impact Your Pet�s Health

Submitted by Michael Adams on November 27, 2009

Passive smoking is not good for anyone and is especially harmful for your pets. Research shows that just as tobacco affects humans, it affects pets too. In fact, there have been studies to show that even the smallest amounts of second hand smoke can be damaging to your pet�s health.

Almost thirty percent of all pets share their home with a smoker. Smokers are exposed to a variety of health risks and expose their families and pets to such kinds of health risks too. The toxins in tobacco smoke can trigger off allergic reactions or a number of respiratory diseases in animals.

Some of the diseases that pets can develop due to exposure of second hand tobaccos smoke are asthma, lung cancer, nasal cancer, and lymphoma. Furthermore, the nicotine present in tobacco smoke can affect the nervous systems of the pets. Tobacco smoke also contains a number of carcinogenic compounds. Since studies have not been able to establish any safe levels of exposure to tobacco smoke, it is recommended that pet owners, who smoke, should do so outside of the house or away from their pets. The physiology of our pets is pretty similar to ours; therefore, all things that are toxic to us are also toxic to them. In another recent research conducted in Harvard Medical School, it has been found that there is another kind of smoke, known as the third-hand smoke, which can also be dangerous for your pets. Those who are active or passive smokers, often carry on them smoke particles that cling to their clothes, bags, and hair. These toxic gases and particles that come home with you can also harm your pets. Though not as harmful as second hand smoke, third hand smoke offers a much less substantial but equally threatening risk of developing health problems in your pets. When smoking inside a room, the smoker doesn�t realize that the toxic material in the smoke often lingers on in the carpeting, furniture, car, hair and clothing for a long period of time. Small children and young pets are especially susceptible to third hand smoke. Your pets lie closer to the carpets or your clothing and therefore inhale a larger quantity of the toxic material. A lot of times, pets are not able to get away from the toxic smoke even if they want to. Unless you have a separate exit for them, your pets are trapped inside with you, inadvertently inhaling toxic fumes.

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