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BOSTON GLOBE - ANIMAL BEAT

Where's there's smoke,
there's danger for kitty

Study: Owners' cigarettes double cancer risk

By Vicki Croke, Globe Correspondent, 8/24/2002

Cats that live with people who smoke are at least twice as likely to develop lymphoma as are cats in smoke-free homes, a new study has found. When you factor in other variables - the number of smokers in the house, how many packs smoked per day - the risk can rise nearly fourfold.

survive more than a year.

''Prevention is always easier than treatment,'' says Cronin, who also sees many cats with lymphoma in her practice. Sixty percent of cats will respond to chemotherapy, she says, while 90 percent of dogs do.

Veterinary oncologist Antony Moore at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, who co-conducted the study, says he was looking for ways to prevent feline lymphoma when he began conducting the study with Elizabeth Bertone of the University of Massachusetts and Laura Snyder, a recent graduate of the Tufts veterinary school. The three studied case files of cats treated for lymphoma at Tufts between 1993 and 2000, and they surveyed the owners about a variety of factors in the cat's life, such as which flea-control products were used, what foods the cat ate, whether the cat was a purebred, and whether it went outside. Eighty owners responded.

''[The study] so easily could have been a bust,'' says Moore, who cares for lymphoma-stricken cats as part of his practice in North Grafton. But there was a smoking gun: tobacco smoke. While the doctors suspected it may have been a factor, he says they were shocked by how unambiguous the results were.

The study is a wake-up call for owners who smoke, Moore says. ''Even if it changes just a few people,'' he says, the study will have been worthwhile.

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 8/24/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/236/living/Where_s_there_s_smoke_there_s_danger_for_kitty+.shtml

The Dark Side of Lighting Up

Secondhand smoke claims canine lives

By Beth Finke, Dog Fancy Magazine - June 2004

One more reason to toss out that last pack and quit smoking: your dog's health. Research shows that second-hand cigarette smoke - already shown to harm humans - may hurt dogs too.

Two studies led by John M. Reif, DVM, professor of environmental health at Colorado State University, shows that dogs living with smokers are more likely to develop cancer than those that live in smoke-free environments.

A 1992 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reports that dogs in smoking households had a 60% greater risk of developing lung cancer than those who live in smoke-free homes.

Another of Reif's studies, published in the same journal in 1998, shows that long nosed-dogs - such as Collies and Irish Wolfhounds - were twice as likely to get nasal cancer if they lived with smokers. Reif speculates that carcinogens in cigarette smoke get trapped in the canine nasal passages, increasing the risk of nasal cancer. The risk increases for dogs with short or medium-sized noses such as Pugs or Poodles.

The message is clear, according to Reif. "People should stop smoking for their own health, and for their family's health," he says. "And for their dog."

2004 Copyright Dog Fancy Magazine - All Rights Reserved

Thanks to Tom for bringing this article to our attention.

Pets and secondhand smoke

by Linda Lechler

March 18, 2003

She sits by the window of her third story apartment hovered in a small corner of the room smoking a cigarette and thinking about Jack Daniels.

No, Sarah Billings is not a closet smoker or alcoholic but a pet owner who cares deeply for Jack, her 5-year-old hound-dog mix. She has known Jack for his whole life and is concerned about how her secondhand smoke may affect him.

"Dogs age almost seven times faster than us," Billings said, a junior majoring in psychology. "Secondhand smoke can cause problems fast. I take Jack (to the vet) frequently and he appears to be fine," Billings said. "But they don't do any specific tests to see early signs (of secondhand smoke)."

Billings said she has smoked cigarettes around Jack for half of a year and worries about his sporadic wheezing, coughing and hyperventilating around cigarette smoke.

"I am close with my dog," Billings said. "I would never forgive myself if I caused his early demise."

Billings, along with other pet owners, is slowly becoming aware of the effects of secondhand smoke on pets. Two studies were done at CSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital headed by John Reif, professor of epidemiology, and the department chairman for environmental and radiological health sciences, and associates that helped to bring awareness of secondhand smoke to the public.

In 1992, Reif conducted a study entitled, "Passive Smoking and Canine Lung Cancer Risk." Reif also headed the second study of similar interests, in 1998, titled "Cancer of the Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses and Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Pet Dogs."

"These studies are really the first to make us aware of secondhand smoke on animals," Reif said. "They are the first of their kind."

There were several factors taken into consideration during the studies, such as number of smokers in the home, number of packs of cigarettes smoked in the home per day by the heaviest smoker, the time the dog spent inside the home, and the age, sex, body size and skull shape of the dog.

"All these factors involved are important," Reif said. "All exposures are contributing factors."

According to the study, a dog that has exposure to a smoker in the home is 1.6 times more likely to develop lung cancer than a dog that is not exposed to a smoker.

The study found that skull shape had an effect on the estimated risk of lung cancer in dogs. Dogs with long noses (like German shepherds) have a higher risk for nasal cancer and dogs with short noses (like pugs) have a higher risk for lung cancer, Reif said. This is because, in theory, a dog with a long nose has an extra filtering system in its nose, so it is more likely to develop nasal cancers, Reif said.

"Both studies are important because they show exposure to secondhand smoke has an increased risk for cancer of respiratory system in dogs," Reif said.

He said some of the warning signs of lung cancer in dogs include chronic coughing, weight loss and abnormal fatigue. Warning signs of nasal cancer include swelling over the nose or sinus area, sneezing and bloody nasal discharge, Reif said.

The only real prevention for these cancers is to not smoke around your pets, Reif said.

"Obviously people are encouraged not to smoke," he said. "People who choose to smoke should do so away from pets, outdoors."

Although the public is slowly becoming aware of the effects of secondhand smoke through studies like these, the concept is still unknown to many. Out of 20 random practicing veterinarians called in the Fort Collins and Loveland yellow pages, not one of them knew a lot about any studies done about the effects of secondhand smoke and pets. Also, none of these veterinarians are currently talking to their clients about secondhand smoke's potential negative effects.

This lack of awareness may not be so prevalent at the CSU campus this coming spring, however. The new approach to the subject of secondhand smoke affecting pets was an inspiration for a new campaign in the tobacco cessation program headed by Jerusha Hall with the assistance of Andrea Boone at the CSU Hartshorn Health Center.

"The whole campaign started because as a smoker I was looking for a different approach to tobacco education," Hall said, a senior animal science major.

She said the approach to tobacco cessation has been seen in the same light for too long and finding a new twist might help to reach more people. Hall said she takes better care of her dogs then she does herself in some ways and knows she is not alone in this behavior.

"To me it was an approach that I hadn't seen before and maybe it is something that would connect for some other smokers," Hall said. " The process of cessation is so difficult and maybe just looking at things differently may help."

The major goal of the pets and health campaign, which starts later this spring, is for people on campus to gain some awareness on the tobacco issue, Hall said.

This project will include a poster campaign with resource numbers, Web sites and a tentatively scheduled dog day on campus which will include health checks for dogs, Frisbee and bandana giveaways, getting your dog's photo taken with Mr. Butts (a speaker on secondhand smoke and your pet) and a raffle for t-shirts.

This event is tentatively planned for April 23, with the posters coming out a week or two before the event.

Online Source http://www.collegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/03/18/3e767d8fc1b7c

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