Dogs & Secondhand Smoke

We all understand that cigarette smoke negatively affects the human body. Unfortunately, many people fail to realize that secondhand smoke impacts the health of everyone in your vicinity, which includes our pets. Allow us to dive deeper into this topic.

Dogs (and all pets, for that matter) can be affected by secondhand smoke. This type of smoke can affect the respiratory symptoms of dogs. Studies have shown that short-nosed dogs such as bulldogs and pugs that live in smoking households are at a higher risk of lung cancer. In addition, long-nosed breeds that are exposed to smoke have doubled their risk of nose cancer.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, secondhand smoke also increases the risk for other types of cancers in pets. Let’s not forget about thirdhand smoke. This tobacco smoke sticks to furniture, carpet, and human skin. We know that dogs love to lick their owners. By doing this, the dog is ingesting the sticky toxic residue from the cigarette smoke. You know that this cannot be good!

We hope you understand that secondhand smoke is a toxin to our four-legged friends and us. We know that it is not easy to quit something like smoking. However, it would be best to consider the adverse health effects after lighting up your next cigarette.