If anyone made a New Year’s Resolution to quit smoking and is having a heard time quitting, the health of your pet might be a reason to help you quit.  Smoking causes about 90% of all lung cancer deaths, and also causes a number of other illnesses, including heart disease and stroke.  However, smoking affects people around the smoker as well.  Within the last 50 years, approximately 2.5 million non-smoking people have died in the United States due to exposure to second-hand smoke.    Smoke can also cause other problems in our pets such as bronchitis or asthma, which can be a life-threatening disease.

A professor of medicine and oncology performed a study to see the effects of smoking on household pets.  She analyzed the nicotine levels in the fur of animals and looked at the condition that the animals’ cells were in.  She found that there were higher levels of nicotine in the animals that lived in smoking households.  She found that cats had more nicotine than dogs in and concluded it was because the cats spent more time grooming their fur, and ingesting more nicotine.  The professor discovered, that compared with pets in non-smoking houses, pets in smoking households are at greater risk of cell damage, cancer and weight loss.

In addition to this discovery, research was done on how to reduce these risks.  The professor found that in houses were people smoked only outside, the nicotine levels in the pets were significantly lower.  So before you feel the urge to smoke and break that resolution, think of the effects it can have on your four-legged friend.

The holiday season has just begun, and as many of us begin to decorate our homes and cook family meals, there are many dangers from which you need to protect your pet.  You should never feed your pet human food.  Many foods that we eat cause problems in our animals.  Chocolate and candy are popular presents and may be left accessible to both people and pets around the house.  Make sure your pet cannot get into these because chocolate can cause toxicity when eaten, and candy is likely to cause vomiting and diarrhea.  Roasted turkey, ham, and other popular meal choices, especially those with a high fat content, can trigger very serious episodes of pancreatitis and vomiting.  Also, if bones of any kind are eaten, they can cause obstructions of the stomach and intestines, or even worse, punctures of the gastrointestinal tract leading to peritonitis.

Decorations used during the holidays can also be dangerous to your pet.  Many plants such as mistletoe, lilies, and poinsettias are toxic, so be sure to keep them out of reach of your pets.  Ensure that the leaves and berries do not fall where your animal can eat them.  Electric lights and displays have wires that pets can chew and become electrocuted.  Tinsel and other string-like decorations are commonly eaten by pets and lead to intestinal obstructions, especially in cats.  And of course, you need to make sure your pet is not exposed to the unsafe conditions outside, such as extreme cold, ice, snow, and salt.  If you have any questions about keeping your pet safe, please feel free to contact us.

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