Pets and passive smoking

BMJ 1994;309:960 (8 October)

Letters

Pets and passive smoking

EDITOR, - The risks of passive smoking are becoming increasinglywell recognised,^1,2 but attention has been focused almost exclusivelyon the risk to humans. I recently saw a patient who had smokedover 40 cigarettes a day until she developed bronchial carcinoma.Two of her pet dogs had died of lung cancer (one after undergoingpneumonectomy and intensive chemotherapy), and her cat had sufferedfrom chronic wheezing that resolved when the patient discontinuedsmoking. Some of my colleagues can provide similar anecdotes.

Household exposure to environmental tobacco smoke seems to beassociated with an increased risk of lung cancer in pet dogs,particularly those with short and medium length noses.³ Unfortunately,most cigarette smokers are probably unaware that their habitmay seriously affect their pets' health. Given that awarenessof the risks of passive smoking to humans can undoubtedly changesmokers' behaviour ⁴ and that people often seem to be more sympatheticto the plight of animals than they are to that of humans, doesthis not suggest a powerful weapon with which to assail smokerswho own pets?