Everyone loves their dog, cat, cockatoo, and other lovable animals we consider pets and companions. But do we love them enough to stop smoking?
Cigarette smoke is dangerous to everyone, especially to our little friends. If it can cause various cancers in people exposed to secondhand smoke, it can surely cause the same, or even worse, to our tiny companions.
In today’s article, we’ll take a look at the dangerous effects of cigarette smoke on pets and the consequences of not stopping smoking for good.
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What Happens When You Smoke Around Pets
Pets that are consistently around your smoke are at a high risk of having developmental problems, irritation, and fatal diseases that could occur in the long term. Let’s learn more about the possible conditions pets can endure if you don’t stop smoking around them.
Nasal Cancer
The toxic substances released by smoking can damage the delicate tissues in our pet’s nasal passages, leading to the development of cancerous cells. If you love your dog or cat enough, you should stop smoking to prevent this from happening.
Nasal cancer is more common for pets with long noses because the carcinogens accumulate on their nose rather than their lungs. The survival rate of any pet with nasal cancer is heartbreakingly very low, so if you want your dog to live longer, quit smoking today.
Oral Cancer
If you smoke daily, your companion’s continuous exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to oral cancer. According to a study, cats who lived with smokers who smoked every day were highly likely to suffer from lymphoma.
It’s worth mentioning that cancer is much more painful to pets than humans. Tumours are extremely painful for animals and can change their behaviour towards you and other people in your household.
Alongside pets, your children also endure severe issues from secondhand smoke, too.
Breathing Problems
Every time you smoke, you increase the risk of your pet developing severe breathing issues. The toxic chemicals in smoke will irritate their airways and cause them to cough and have lower stamina when playing with you or other pets.
Over time, this can worsen and lead to more severe conditions, such as chronic bronchitis or asthma, which are a horrible thing for your loving pet to endure.
Eye Irritation
Your pets suffer from eye irritation more than people when you smoke around them.
Smoke can cause irritation to a pet’s sensitive eyes. This can manifest as redness, itchiness, excessive tearing, and even more severe eye conditions. So, if you really love your pet and want them to have good vision as they grow old, just stop smoking.
Death
There’s no doubt that pets who have suffered enough from inhaling your secondhand smoke and being exposed to thirdhand smoke (on surfaces, in dust, etc.) are far more likely to die sooner and more painfully due to health complications.
They would endure tumours and breathing problems and live a laborious and painful life due to weakened immune systems and infections, eventually leading to their death.
Expensive Veterinary Services
Smoking is already expensive for you as it is. Now, think about providing treatment and life support funds for your lovable, fuzzy companion suffering because of your smoking.
Treating smoking-related ailments in pets often requires extensive veterinary care, medication, and surgeries, leading to costly medical bills.
There’s an easy way to avoid all of this: stop smoking.
Smoke Chemicals: An Unseen Danger to Pets
After you decide to quit smoking (and are eventually successful), keep your home safe for pets by having it thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Smoke chemicals can linger on various surfaces as dust and discolouration on walls and surfaces for years, posing continued risks to pets. They can ingest these chemicals by licking floors, furniture surfaces, or other areas and surfaces in the house and get sick, long after you’ve quit.
The Effects of Vaping on Pets
Unfortunately, there are very few studies on the effects of vaping on pets. It’s logical to think that vaping should be safer for pets, and while pharmacy-available vaping products don’t contain the thousands of dangerous chemicals found in cigarette smoke, many of the illicit vapes sold under the counter do.
To be on the safe side, we suggest vaping outside in the yard or in a room where your pet won’t follow you or enter.
It’s also worth mentioning that nicotine can be extremely poisonous to pets. Its effects on their system aren’t always lethal, but it can cause them extreme discomfort and pain, not to mention the high vet bills you’ll need to pay to restore their health.
The Solution: Stop Smoking
The most effective solution for safeguarding the health and well-being of pets is to quit smoking altogether. By quitting, you not only improve your own health but also protect your beloved companions from breathing in the dangerous chemicals of cigarettes.
Every pet owner surely wants the best for their loving companions, and quitting is one way of giving it.
Summary
Smoking poses a significant threat to the health of our pets. The harmful effects of cigarette smoke are too painful and damaging to pets exposed to smoke chemicals. By quitting, we give ourselves and our pets an environment that keeps us healthier and living life the longest.
You’re probably here because you want to know how smoking has affected your pets. We hope you found what you read useful and helpful. There’s a lot more to know about quitting and the effects of smoking on people and pets.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to bulk-billing Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including using responsible vaping products where appropriate.
Click here to book your bulk-billed telehealth consultation with an Australian healthcare professional and quit smoking today.