Smoking section

Sue Allison's parrot is smarter than she is

Sue doesn't smoke at home any more but has yet to "put it out" for good

Sue Allison, a Toronto nursing home assistant, is a smoker. She can't smoke at work, of course. And for the past six months she hasn't been smoking at home either. The reasons are called Tiddles, Wu-Wu and Bart. They're not her children -- the 57-year-old's kids are grown and gone. Tiddles and Wu-Wu are cats and Bart's a parrot.

The reason for her change in habits is an article she came across at her vet's, which described the dangers of secondhand smoke to pets. "I'd wondered about it before but put it out of my mind. Wu-Wu is very sensitive and I noticed that she'd wince up her nose and sometimes sneeze when I lit up. Bart doesn't care for smoke either. Since I found out how dangerous it can be for pets, I've taught him to say 'Put it out...put it out.' He's smarter than I am!" she giggles.

Though little research has been done on birds, there is a small but growing body of evidence that secondhand smoke affects animals in much the same way it affects humans. One hundred and thirty-five dogs with cancer were studied by Dr John S Reif, of Colorado State University, 12 years ago. The results appeared in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Fully 60% of the sick animals came from the homes of smokers. Of the group, 51 had lung cancer. Though lung cancer in dogs is rare -- only one dog in 25,000 contracts the disease annually -- the shorter the nose the more susceptible the canine. Pugs, Pekes and miniature poodles are at substantially higher risk.

Long-nosed dogs, on the other hand, come down with a disproportional number of nasal cancers. Dr Reif, who conducted a follow-up study of 481 dogs in 1998, believes the reason for this is that smoke becomes trapped in their nasal passages. Collies, Afghans and wolfhounds are especially in danger.

LYMPHOMA IN CATS
The article that Ms Allison read in her vet's waiting room was based on a Tufts University study that suggested that smokers' cats were three times more likely to come down with lymphoma, the most common cause of cancer in felines and one that's difficult and expensive to treat. The cure rate is less than half even with the use of chemotherapy and radiation. Vets who believe lymphoma is caused by a virus have questioned the results -- though not the science behind the study. Some speculate that smoke caught in the cat's fur is the cause.

Whatever the mechanism, as common sense suggests, tobacco smoke is not good for pets' health. Patients who love their live-in animals should be cautioned about the dangers. (For more see, "Kill me, kill my dog.")