As vets, we are being urged to routinely ask owners about their smoking habit in the wake of new research that shows some pets are passively smoking thousands of cigarettes a year.
According to a leading cancer expert, such discussions should form part of health checks after it was discovered owners who smoked were harming their companion animals by burning through an average of nine cigarettes in their home each day.
Some pets could be being exposed to as many as 3,285 cigarettes per year. This is despite 78% knowing their habit could be harmful to their pets and 68% stating it would encourage them to kick the habit it if made their pet ill.
Furthermore, two-thirds of those asked via the More Than pet insurance research said it would encourage them to quit smoking if they found out it had made their pet ill.
Findings
The research – which coincides with “Stoptober”, Public Health England’s campaign encouraging smokers to quit for 28 days – also revealed almost a quarter (22%) chain smoke 15 or more cigarettes in their home on a daily basis.
Clare Knottenbelt – director of Hawk and Dove, and a trustee of the Animal Cancer Trust – believes vets have a major role to play in tackling the issue.
She said: “In the More Than study, it’s really interesting to see how many people say they would give up if it made their pet ill.
“Of course, it is the vets who see the end point of the effects of passive smoking. I have had many owners whose pets have been diagnosed with cancer, asking: ‘What caused this? What could I have done differently?’ and in some cases, I have been able to smell the smoke on their pet’s fur.”
