Smoking Around Dogs & Other Pets

[Baileys mum]

Hi guys, I was just wondering what everyones opinion is on smoking around your dog & other pets?

I think it is disgusting & just as bad as smoking around children. I have friends that smoke inside their house, & their dogs, cats & cockatiel (which are all indoor pets ) are exsposed to this smoke 24 hours a day.

I am not a vet , so I'm not sure what sort of damage passive smoking can do to a pets health, but I seriously think that if animals can suffer from similar health problems as humans do due to passive smokig, then IMO it is a form of abuse.

I am a reformed smoker myself, but when I did smoke, I never smoked inside the house, or when one of my pets or a child was near me, I didn't think it was fair to expose my dirty habit to an innocent child or animal.

We went to this particular friends house the other day & had one of our dogs with us, when we got home all we could smell was the smoke in our dogs coat, we had to give him a bath straight away it was that disgusting, its just sad to think that all their pets smell like that at all times.

Ok that's the end of my rant, :p Very interested to hear others views on this.

Thanks guys, I have also added a poll, to get an idea on everyones views.

[MolassesLass]

I used to smoke and I would try to go outside and keep the dogs inside whenever I smoked. But there were times when they were exposed by myself or others.

I think it's best not to expose dogs but it's not something I think bad enough that I would ever say something about or think badly of someone for.

[Remarkabull]

There are no smokers in this house, however some of our friends smoke and if they are here they have to go outside, usually on their own as we hate the smell.

As for having animals inside when people are smoking is just awful, especially if it's a long term thing and it can't be healthy. Personally I find many (not all ) smokers to be selfish and unconcerned with the comfort of others (pets or people). I choose not to smoke so why should I or my kids and pets have to breathe it in when it's not our choice?

[Jed]

My parents both smoked, and our dogs lived well into their teens without any problems. We had birds too, which all seemed to fall off the perch at some ancient age. My sister also smokes, and her rottweilers lived to 15 and 16.

I don't believe there is any evidence that smoking damages pets in any way.

If you don't wont your dog to smell smokey, leave him at home when visiting smokers.

[Aidan3]

Some individuals might be very unlucky, but the sorts of illnesses that smoking causes usually take longer to develop than dogs live for. On the other hand, allergies and cardiovascular fitness can be affected relatively quickly.

[OSoSwift]

A friend of mine smoked and her dog had allergies. When she got her tested she showed up as being allergic to tobacco smoke.

After that they didn't smoke around the dogs, but prior to that they did.

I would not/do not tolerate smoking around myself, children or animals. I don't really have any friends that smoke, but the odd person that comes has to go outside well away from the house and not drop their butts - another thing I HATE.

[Baileys mum]

That's great Jed, that your family have pets that lived to old age dspite being expsosed to cigarette smoke, but I am still of the opinion that it just isn't right & I would love to get a vets opinion on this topic.

I mean dogs may not be human, but they still have a set of lungs & a heart, & if smoking can cause health problems in us , why wouldn't it be the same for pets?

We never usually take our dogs to these friends house, but it was a spare of the moment visit & we just happened to have one of our dogs with us. We would of left him outside in their back yard , but their fencing isn't the best.

[B-Q]

I'm not a smoker and apart from the occasional ciggie here and there in highschool I never really have been.

For the last one I chose "Other" I don't mind people smoking out in the open around pets, they can move if it bothers them and there is air to carry it away, but one day I saw a woman in her car, all the windows up, smoking with her 2 dogs in the back seat, thats appalling.

Edited March 1, 2011 by B-Q

[dee lee]

Some individuals might be very unlucky, but the sorts of illnesses that smoking causes usually take longer to develop than dogs live for. On the other hand, allergies and cardiovascular fitness can be affected relatively quickly.

Exactly.

[cowanbree]

My Kayla who grew up in a heavy smokers house died of lung cancer. I don't allow smoking in my car or house anyhow so not an issue anymore

[spoilt lab lives here]

No one in my house smoke and if friends or visitors want a smoke they have to go out the front. I dont let them smoke out the back unless its a party then the dogs are locked up and the guests can smoke. I hate smoking its fowl!

[Sandra777]

I have had 2 dogs die of lung cancer, one lived her whole life in our house the other came into our house when she was 2 and left when she was 8 - the whole time they lived here we both still smoked.

Co-incidence??

[stormie]

A friend of mine smoked and her dog had allergies. When she got her tested she showed up as being allergic to tobacco smoke.

My mum smokes and Orbit lived around her during the first part of his life. He tested positive to cigarette smoke with his allergy tests. Not sure how correct it was, but I always used it against her to make her smoke well away from the backyard!!

[Tilly]

I am a non smoker but my father was a heavy smoker during my childhood ... I have since developed an allergy to cigarettes/smoke and react with anything from a mild shortness of breath to a full blown rash and respiratory distress.

It isn't just the smoke itself but what if left after someone has had a cigarette eg I will get a reaction if I get in a lift after a smoker has been in it - even if they have left the lift. I get a reaction from walking down the street were the smoker may have moved on but the scent still lingers.

I get extremely pissed off when I see parents smoking around children (particularly small babies) but that is nothing compared to my reaction when someone smokes around my dogs …

[sas]

When I was a smoker I didn't care. Now I'm not a smoker I care.

[sas]

A friend of mine smoked and her dog had allergies. When she got her tested she showed up as being allergic to tobacco smoke.

My mum smokes and Orbit lived around her during the first part of his life. He tested positive to cigarette smoke with his allergy tests. Not sure how correct it was, but I always used it against her to make her smoke well away from the backyard!!

Ditto with Dante being allergic to cigarette smoke.

Edited March 2, 2011 by MEH

[freundhund]

I REALLY, REALLY care and at the moment if anyone lights a cigarette around me I am likely to go off like a time bomb.

My wonderful husband at the age of 57 who has never smoked and his parents are non- smokers, with our being a non- smoking house. Has just had HALF his right lung removed due to Lung Cancer from secondary smokers. Thankfully from being diagnosed to having the lungpartially removed was 2 1/2 weeks!!!! His prognois is good.

I would like smoking banned at dog shows, I find a lot of smokers at shows are not conciderate, standing at the entrance to the ring so you get a face full of smoke when you want to go in with your dog. Also the number of butts left on the ground is massive.

We have never allowed smokers in our house, near our children or our pets. Now I don't just move I say something.

Anyhow, women I know that are 10 years younger than me that smoke all look 10 years older. Who wants to look like they are 50 - 60 years old when they are somewhere around 35 - 45 cause they are stupid enough to smoke.

Okay, still ranting as I crawl back to my smoke free house............

[MolassesLass]

My wonderful husband at the age of 57 who has never smoked and his parents are non- smokers, with our being a non- smoking house. Has just had HALF his right lung removed due to Lung Cancer from secondary smokers. Thankfully from being diagnosed to having the lungpartially removed was 2 1/2 weeks!!!! His prognois is good.

Did his doctors tell him it was caused by secondhand smoke?

[stormie]

I REALLY, REALLY care and at the moment if anyone lights a cigarette around me I am likely to go off like a time bomb.

My wonderful husband at the age of 57 who has never smoked and his parents are non- smokers, with our being a non- smoking house. Has just had HALF his right lung removed due to Lung Cancer from secondary smokers. Thankfully from being diagnosed to having the lungpartially removed was 2 1/2 weeks!!!! His prognois is good.

I'm glad his prognosis is good, but if your home is a non smoking home and so was/in his parents, where has the second hand smoke come from?

[Remarkabull]

I REALLY, REALLY care and at the moment if anyone lights a cigarette around me I am likely to go off like a time bomb.

My wonderful husband at the age of 57 who has never smoked and his parents are non- smokers, with our being a non- smoking house. Has just had HALF his right lung removed due to Lung Cancer from secondary smokers. Thankfully from being diagnosed to having the lungpartially removed was 2 1/2 weeks!!!! His prognois is good.

I would like smoking banned at dog shows, I find a lot of smokers at shows are not conciderate, standing at the entrance to the ring so you get a face full of smoke when you want to go in with your dog. Also the number of butts left on the ground is massive.

We have never allowed smokers in our house, near our children or our pets. Now I don't just move I say something.

Anyhow, women I know that are 10 years younger than me that smoke all look 10 years older. Who wants to look like they are 50 - 60 years old when they are somewhere around 35 - 45 cause they are stupid enough to smoke.

Okay, still ranting as I crawl back to my smoke free house............

That's terrible, I hope he makes a full recovery.

My dad's mum died of lung cancer - she was a non smoker. Her husband (dad's dad) also died of lung cancer - he was a smoker. They slept in separate rooms for as long as I knew them and poppa nearly burnt the house down many times from falling asleep with a cigarette in his mouth! I remember his sheets had scorch marks and holes in them.

My mums dad also died of lung cancer (he was a heavy smoker). He used to live in a granny flat out the back of our house and I can remember hearing him cough from inside my room at night. He also had a pet galah that used to imitate his coughing (was actually pretty funny) but when he moved in with us mum made him keep the bird in a aviary or in the outside laundry in bad weather because she worried about the smoke making the bird sick too.