One of the main reasons people are drawn to vapor cigarettes is because of the smoke, or lack thereof. They are called “vapor” cigarettes for a reason – rather than smelly smoke, water vapor is all that’s left behind.
For the smokers out there, we’re sure you’ve heard all of the risks of cigarettes, so we’re not going to bore you with that. Check out this article for a refresher.
Although smoking’s effects on the body are well documented, rarely do we hear much about how it affects pets.
Smoking around your pets can lead to a host of health issues for your furry friend. Many of these issues are the same as the smoker’s, including bronchitis and asthma.
Besides this apparent risk, you also have the risk of your pet eating discarded cigarette butts…
This happened to me when my dog Bandit found a discarded butt in the yard one morning. He’s gotten used to licking my hand after smoking (…not too much, just once a day!!), so I know the nicotine was appealing to him. There wasn’t much I could do once Bandit got the butt in his mouth – he swallowed it whole.
After bringing him back inside, I called the vet and did some quick research and was relieved to find that he would need to ingest several more butts in order for it to be fatal. In fact, according to veterinarian Wendy Brooks:
“…a 40 lb dog would get very sick after eating one cigarette but would need 11 cigarettes to die from nicotine poisoning.”
I didn’t get out of the woods unscathed – Bandit ended up throwing up the butt a few hours later…
I’m thankful Bandit is okay, and since this little scare, I’ve been more careful about making sure my cigarette butts are in a container up off the ground.
This story though should hopefully get you thinking about smoking and your pets, and how your habit can affect your cherished four-legged friends.
A discarded butt is just one risk though, especially if you smoke inside around your pet. Check out this article – How Cigarettes Affect Your Furry Friends – for more.