By Susan Bard Hall
Although domestic cats’ exposure to second-hand smoke has not been studied, it is known that there are 4,000 different chemicals in passive smoke, including 43 known human carcinogens, explained Henry Slack, Region 4 Indoor Air Program Manager for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Atlanta, GA. Slack added that some studies have been done on dogs.
“We can presume that exposure to second-hand smoke is not healthy for cats,” Slack stated. “We don’t have any direct evidence, but it certainly fits with what we know. It is a fairly decent assumption.”
Funding constraints, not lack of concern, appears to be the main reason why research has not been conducted in this area. John Pickrell, DVM, PhD, environmental toxicologist at Kansas State University Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Manhattan, KS, and Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicologists, said “not a lot of data” exists on the effects of ETS and cats because research dollars have not been earmarked for our feline friends.
John S. Reif, DVM, professor and head, Department of Environmental Health, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, and author of two articles on the effects of second-hand smoke on dogs, also acknowledged the lack of research studies done on cats. Currently, clinical findings and analyses account for the information available, he said. However, because of the similarities between dogs and cats, an increased incidence of lung and nasal cancer in cats would not be unexpected, Dr. Reif added.
