{"id":1592,"date":"2016-07-06T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T16:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/?p=1592"},"modified":"2018-08-15T14:37:35","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T21:37:35","slug":"secondhand-smoke-and-your-pet-what-you-need-to-know-before-lighting-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/pet-care\/secondhand-smoke-and-your-pet-what-you-need-to-know-before-lighting-up\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Secondhand Smoke Impact Your Pet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know about secondhand smoke. It\u2019s the aroma and cloud of smoke given off as you walk past someone who is smoking or an area where someone has smoked. We know the side effects of secondhand smoke are even worse than the actual side effects of firsthand smoke, but did you know that secondhand smoke can be just as deadly to your pet\u2019s health as it is to your own? Only recently, in 2010, did scientists and organizations against tobacco begin to study the side effects of secondhand smoke to our pets. According to a 2014 article by CBS News<\/a>, secondhand smoke can cause lung and nasal cancer, malignant lymphoma in cats, as well as allergy and respiratory problems in both cats and dogs much like it does people.<\/p>\n

According to the Americans for Nonsmokers\u2019 Rights<\/a>, cats are more susceptible to secondhand smoke because of their grooming habits. We know that cats are constantly licking themselves while grooming, and when exposed to secondhand \"\"<\/a>smoke particles, the particles land on their fur and when the cat licks itself while grooming, said cat inevitably is ingesting those harmful chemicals. Some of those chemicals include the following according to The National Cancer Institute<\/a>: arsenic, benzene, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, ethylene oxide, nickel, and vinyl chloride. Other ingredients suspected of causing cancer are: formaldehyde, benzo(a)pyrene, and toluene.\u00a0Dogs that have longer snouts are also more susceptible to an increased risk for developing lung cancer because of the larger surface area that is exposed to those chemicals, but they can also develop cancer in the snout as well. Organizations like Truth Orange have only recent begun airing campaign videos to get big tobacco companies to stop selling their hazardous products because of what it is doing to the health of our pets. Check out some of their campaign videos here:<\/p>\n