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YOUR CAT AND SMOKE EXPOSURE
Are you smoking around your kitty? You may want to reconsider if you are....
According to recent research, feline lymphoma (cancer) may be linked to passive cigarette smoke (second hand smoke).
A malignant form of feline cancer occurs commonly in our pet cats. In a recent study, researchers wanted to evaluate whether exposure to household environmental smoke (they call it ETS) increases the risk of feline malignant lymphoma. They conducted a case-control study of this in 80 cats with malignant lymphoma and 114 controls with kidney disease.
Here's how the study was conducted:
Vets examined and diagnosed the cats at a large veterinary
teaching hospital in Massachusetts between 1993 and 2000.
The owners of all the cats received a questionnaire inquiring about the level of smoking in the household two years prior to the diagnosis.
What were the findings?
After adjustment for age and other factors, the relative risk of malignant lymphoma for cats with any household ETS exposure was 2.4 times that of cats not exposed to ETS. The risk also increased with both duration and quantity of exposure.
Cats with 5 or more years of ETS exposure were 3.2 times as likely to develop lymphoma compared with those in non-
smoking households. Cats living with two or more smokers had nearly 4 times the risk of developing lymphoma.
Cats may inhale the smoke or ingest it when they groom
themselves. The findings in this study suggest that passive cigarette smoke may increase the risk of malignant lymphoma in cats. (It also suggests that further study of this relation in humans is warranted.)
(American Journal of Epidemiology 2002)
Vets also point out that Feline lymphoma has been linked to infection with feline leukemia virus. This study suggests it may also be linked to inhaling or ingesting passive cigarette smoke. This study has done well to point our that it is apparent that kitty's environment plays a big role in in her health, and could lead to
the development of many diseases.
-- Unknown
Time spent with cats is never wasted.
-Unknown-
When a cat sits with both feet tucked inward and studies you with the same admiration you would direct toward a Rembrandt, you know you have been adopted.
