Animals have an incredible sense of smell, and they also have delicate lungs just like humans. So have you ever considered how your smoking affects your pets? Smoking outside of your home is one thing, but if you smoke a half a pack or more of cigarettes a day indoors, you’re not just creating a smoke filled environment for yourself. Exposing your loyal companion to cigarette smoke can be detrimental to their health, so if you can’t quit for yourself, at least quit for your pet’s sake.
According to CNN Health, a new survey shows that one in three smokers would consider quitting after learning the dangerous affects that secondhand smoke has on pets. Cats and dogs can suffer from bronchial disease as well as more severe health problems such as oral cancer, lymphoma and lung cancer. Cats and dogs are not the only pets that can be affected, because studies have shown that birds can develop cancer and other issues too. It’s probable that any animal whether it’s as large as a Mastiff or as small as a rat can experience side effects from secondhand smoke. The issue is air quality and when your home is contaminated by cigarette smoke, your pets are unable to escape from it.
Nicotine is addicting, which makes smoking a challenging habit to quit. However, even if you are unable to stop, you can still find ways to improve the air quality for your pet. For example, create rules for when smoking is or is not allowed. Ban smoking from your home and even your car, especially when your pet is traveling with you. Or keep an air purifier in the room that you smoke in and ban pets from the room until you’re finished. According to Allergy Consumer Review, some of the best air purifiers that remove smoke include IQAir Multigas, Allerair, NQ Clarifier and Blueair Air Purifiers.
Making these changes may seem like an inconvenience as well as an added expense, but you have to look at the bigger picture. By keeping your home smoke free, you preserve your pet’s health, which will reduce your future veterinarian expenses. Plus, you will increase your pet’s life, which is priceless.
roentarre
Passive smoking has been proven to increase the risk of lung cancer by 2 fold in smoker’s partner.
The preliminary research took place in rat popualtions. By extrapolation, there is more clinical evidence to say that passive smoking kills.
You are right about that 🙂