Can cats get lung cancer from passive smoking ?
I don’t know if they can develop lung cancer, but studies show that they can be affected by passive smoking. Cats sharing their homes with smokers are twice as likely than other cats in non-smoking households to develop Feline Leukaemia, the risk rises to three times more likely in cats exposed to smoke for 5 years. Indoor-only cats are at increased risk because they cannot spend time outdoors away from the smoke (Study 1993-2000, Tufts University, Grafton, Massachusetts, USA; led by veterinary oncologist Anthony Moore). Incense smoke, burned to scent the house, may be carcinogenic in the same way as cigar/cigarette/pipe smoke. Moore and his colleagues studied 180 cats treated at a Tufts veterinary hospital between 1993 and 2000. They found that cats exposed to second-hand smoke were more than twice as likely to get the disease than those living with non-smokers. Cats living with two smokers had four times the risk. They also swallow carcinogenic dust, soot and ash when they groom them
