Smoking And Your Cat

Spanish Translation / Traducción Español

Photos copyrighted by the individual photographers
Article copyright © ShowCatsOnline.com. All Rights Reserved.
Copying or redistribution of this article is strictly prohibited
without the express written permission of ShowCatsOnline.com


Did you know if you smoke indoors, you may be risking the health of your cats?

A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2002 discovered a link between second hand smoke and the development of a malignant cancer in cats.

The Study

Dr Antony Moore and colleagues at Tufts University examined and diagnosed the cats at a large veterinary teaching hospital in Massachusetts between 1993 and 2000. 80 cats had malignant lymphoma and 114 cat used as a "control group" in the study had kidney disease.

The owners of all the cats received a questionnaire to determine the level of smoking in the owners' household two-five years prior to the diagnosis.

The Findings

  • Cats exposed to secondhand smoke in the two years prior to diagnosis were twice as likely to develop Feline Malignant Lymphoma as cats living in a nonsmoking environment.
  • Cats with 5 or more years of exposure to second hand smoke were 3.2 times as likely to develop lymphoma compared with those in nonsmoking households.
  • Cats living with two or more smokers had nearly 4 times the risk of developing lymphoma.

Conclusions

  • Passive cigarette smoke may increase the risk of malignant lymphoma in cats
  • The risk increases with both the duration and quantity of exposure.
  • Cats may inhale the smoke or ingest it when they groom themselves.

Feline lymphoma kills three out of four cats within a year of being diagnosed.

Future Study

A similar study is planned to be conducted on dogs. Researchers believe cats are more at risk from second hand smoke because they groom their coats more than a dog does and have a greater exposure to passive smoke since most cats are strictly indoor while dogs spend a percentage of their day outdoors.

Back :: Top :: Home

 

 
 

Legal Disclaimer | Report A Broken Link or Typo

Website created & maintained by
ShowCatsOnline Web Design