Archive for the ‘Cat Health’ Category

Feline’s Pride is announcing a voluntary recall of Feline’s Pride Raw food with ground bone for cats and kittens, Natural Chicken Formula, Net Wt. 2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg., 40 oz.) produced on 6/10/10, because it may be contaminated with Salmonella

The recalled cat food was purchased online, packaged in uncoded plastic containers and sold frozen to consumers nationwide. For more information, consumers can call 716-580-3096.

This is some important information to pass along:

Iams is recalling the following canned cat food:

Iams ProActive Health canned Cat and Kitten Food all
varieties of 3 oz and 5.5 oz cans
Date on Bottom of Can: 09/2011 to 06/2012

This recall is limited to only Iams canned cat food distributed in North America. No other Iams pet food is involved.

This is a voluntary recall (Yay Iams!!) as a precautionary measure.   Diagnostic testing indicated that the product may contain insufficient levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1), which is essential for cats.

Cats that were fed these canned products as their only food are at
greater risk for developing signs of thiamine deficiency. Early signs of thiamine deficiency may include loss of appetite, salivation, vomiting and weight loss. In advanced cases, signs may include
ventroflexion (downward curving) of the neck, wobbly gait, falling, circling and seizures.

Contact your veterinarian immediately if your cat is displaying any of these signs. If treated promptly, thiamine deficiency is typically reversible.
If you have purchased canned cat food with these codes you should discard it.

Vindication is a memorial that is dedicated to pets and pet owners that have suffered because of contaminated or poisoned pet food.

Five acres of land at Keystone Lake in Oklahoma have  been donated to all Pet Owners.  Five acres in the very center of the United States given to us; a memorial to focus on the very center of the problem.

From the 2007 melamine pet food recall alone, some estimates are as high as 300,000 U.S. and Canadian pets became sick, died, or are still fighting kidney disease. Countless thousands more pets have become sick from recalls or silent recalls of tainted pet food since.

No laws have changed, no lawsuits have been settled, none responsible have been jailed.  No one has told us how many died or remain sick; no one tells us how many continue to become sick and/or die from new recalls.  Today, we barely even know the partial truth of pet food risks.

One shattered pet family, fed up with the continued snubbing of industry and government, decided enough was enough.  Every single pet that has died or remains ill because of a pet food will be remembered; why these pets became sick and/or why they died will be remembered too.

If your Pet died or remains ill due to a pet food,
Click Here to include your Pet in Vindication

ConsumerAffairs.com has over 500 consumer complaints in the last two years regarding Nutro Pet Foods.  Journalist Lisa McCormick confirmed (in April 2009) that Nutro Pet Food was under investigation (by the FDA) yet no recall has been issued.  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/04/nutro_foia.html

You can click HERE to read the story and investigation of a cat that nearly died from an overdose of vitamin D in Nutro Chicken Meal and Rice cat food. If the cat’s owner had not figured out that the illness was from the food and had it tested, this cat would have died, (makes you wonder how many have,) yet the FDA refuses to take action.

Here are just a few quotes from some well-known veterinarians who have dared to investigate and learn about vaccinations. You may just save your pet’s life by learning the truth about vaccinations.

Bob Rogers, DVM - “We are harming pets by causing fibrosarcomas, possibly hypothyroidism and IMHA. The research has been done to support reduced vaccination recommendations. More importantly research shows that unnecessarily repeating vaccines has no effect.”

Dr. Christina Chambreau, DVM - “Routine vaccinations are probably the worst thing that we do for our animals…”

Dr. Pat Bradley, DVM -
“In a general and frightening context, I see the overall health and longevity of animals deteriorating. The bodies of most animals have a tremendous capacity to detoxify poisons, but they do have a limit. I think we often exceed that limit and overwhelm the body’s immune system function with toxins from vaccines.”

Chrissie Mason B.R.C.P., Ph.D. - “I am becoming seriously concerned at the increase in the cases of Auto-immune disease, and the Canine/Feline vaccination programme which I consider to be inextricably linked. Certainly, I do not stand alone in holding these views, as a number of Orthodox Veterinary Practitioners have expressed their concern over the incidence of certain types of illness suddenly appearing after a vaccination has been administered.”

Dr. Charles E Loops DVM - “The first thing that must change with routine vaccinations is the myth that vaccines are not harmful. Veterinarians and animal guardians have to come to realise that they are not protecting animals from disease by annual vaccinations, but in fact, are destroying the health and immune systems of these same animals they love and care for.”

Consider this… One dose of rabies vaccine costs the vet about 61 cents. The client is typically charged between $15 and $38, plus a $35 office visit. The markup on the vaccine alone is 2,400 percent to 6,200 percent—a markup equivalent to charging $217 for a loaf of bread. According to one estimate, removing the one-year rabies vaccination and consequential office visit for dogs alone would decrease the average small vet’s income from $87,000 to $25,000—and this doesn’t include cats or other vaccinations.

Stop the Shots! IF YOU HAVE A DOG OR CAT: DON’T VACCINATE until you read  this book!

WHAT VETS DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT VACCINES

A few months ago I wrote a post about the dangers of using clay litter, which prompted me to switch over to World’s Best Cat Litter which is corn-based.  Just a few days ago I read an article about 3 cats that had gotten very sick and one died, from the mycotoxins in that particular litter.  Well now that I think about it (and have done some research) it is clear that when grains, especially corn, get wet, they produce mycotoxins.  Mycotoxins are TOXINS.  Trust me on this one ’cause I had Crohn’s Disease for years and one of the many things I had to do to get over it was eliminate mycotoxins. 

Susan Thixton, author of Truth About Pet Food wrote to World’s Best about this problem and this is part of the answer that she got from them:

‘There are no possibilities of contamination and toxicity issue when the product is in the bag and fresh out the bag.  The product won’t have any mold or fungi issues unless it has been subjected to moisture in the litter box.’

HELLO!!! Cats PEE in the litter box, and that is MOISTURE!!

“Mycotoxins can show carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic, teratogenic or immunotoxic effects.”

On top of this, I discovered that they use GMO corn and in no way will I support Monsanto and their herbicides of death.

So I returned my giant (thankfully unopened) bag of World’s Best Cat Litter to the store and got Feline Pine…which I really hope is safe.  Do they use sawdust from treated wood? I will have to research this one too.  I would guess that SweatScoop, made from wheat, would be susceptible  to mycotoxin infestation also since all grains worldwide are contaminated or become contaminated easily with moisture.

Most cat food contains grain, and cats are NOT grain-eaters.  They do not have the proper enzymes to digest grain.

Dogs and cats do not produce an enzyme called amylase in their saliva to actually break-down carbohydrates and starches.

Unlike omnivores, cats cannot decrease liver enzymes when fed a low protein grain-based diet. This is probably why hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease accompanied by protein defiency) is common in cats fed a dry food diet, especially those that are obese.

While the label on dry cat food will show what looks like sufficient protein, a good amount of that protein is coming from grains, which is indigestible and poor quality.

The other important reason for keeping grains away from your cat is that all grains contain mycotoxins,(aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and Fusarium mycotoxins) which actually poison your cat (or dog…or you).

Mycotoxins contaminate cereal grains worldwide, and their presence in pet food is a potential health threat to pets.

People are not grain-eaters either, and you’d be amazed at how much better you will feel if you don’t eat any grains at all!  CLICK HERE for more info.

PLEASE watch this video, especially if you use flea and tick powders, sprays and collars.

There are many safe alternatives to using poisons on your pets!

Most commercial pet foods contain “meat by-products”. By law, “by-product” is defined as “up to 20% intestinal content”, or poop.

Most mass-produced pet foods are not made with human-grade ingredients. They contain cockroachs, rodent droppings, mold, intestinal products, floor sweepings and other discards from human food processing. “Animal digest” contains ground up euthanized pets put back into the pet food, pentobarbital and all.

From Wikipedia:  Many animals euthanized at shelters or animal control agencies are sent to meat rendering facilities,^[11] to be processed for use in cosmetics, fertilizer, gelatin, poultry feed, pharmaceuticals and pet food.^[12] The amount of phenobarbital in dog food has caused dogs to become less responsive to the drug when being euthanized.

Coal-fired power plants produce more than 100 million tons of the toxic-waste byproduct sulfur dioxide, the stuff that causes acid rain.

Called FGD gypsum, this synthetic powder is produced when coal plant “scrubbers”  remove sulfur dioxide from plant emissions.     

Last year, a coal ash pond just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, spilled and flooded about 300 acres of land with ash, killing many fish in the area. The spill damaged many homes as well, and cleanup costs are expected to be upwards of $1 billion. This catastrophe has prompted the EPA to draft regulations on how to handle toxic coal waste safely.  Guess what they came up with?

In 2001, the USDA together with the EPA began to promote FGD gypsum use in agriculture. Since that time, the amount of coal ash used by farmers on their fields has tripled. According to the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), nearly 280,000 tons of the byproduct was spread on fields last year.

FGD gypsum contains toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, but according to the EPA, “the mercury contained in FGD gypsum does not affect plants and runoff into water supplies at significant levels.”  Guess they never heard of PHYTOREMEDIATION, a technology which uses plants to absorb heavy metals from the soil.

If the waste from coal plants is toxic and must be dealt with in a manner that keeps it contained, I’m just wondering why the EPA would promote the same waste for use on FOOD crops.  Perhaps it’s just more cost-effective to sell toxic waste to farmers than to stop producing it in the first place.

Food that’s USDA-certified organic cannot be grown with coal ash.  I’m sticking with organic for my family, and that includes my cats.


Nature’s Variety Raw Food Diets Organic Chicken Patties 6 lbs.

As we all know, there has been quite a bit of controversy about BPA in plastics and can linings. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic estrogen petrochemical (synthesized from oil) used to harden polycarbonate plastics  and is used in can linings.

The ester bonds that link the BPA monomers together are not very stable. Over time, these monomers break down, which releases BPA into whatever is surrounding it, such as food and water. 

Over 7 billion pounds of BPA was produced in 2007. That’s a lot of poison, from a lot of petro.

Just a very short overview of the dangers of BPA:

Veterinary researchers have found a link between BPA in cat food cans and hyperthyroidism in cats.

Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor, which can mimic the body’s own hormones.

A 2008 review has concluded that obesity may be increased as a function of BPA exposure.

A 2008 study by the Yale School of Medicine demonstrated that adverse neurological effects occur in non-human primates regularly exposed to bisphenol A at levels equal to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) maximum safe dose of 50 µg/kg/day.This research found a connection between BPA and interference with brain cell connections vital to memory, learning and mood.

In vitro studies have suggested that BPA can promote the growth of neuroblastoma (cancer) cells.

It is fairly obvious that BPA, as well as any petrochemical, is not terribly healthy for your cat, you, or the Earth.  You can read some really great articles on my other blog, creating a better world.

Just for your information, EWG reports that the three human foods showing the highest levels of BPA is canned chicken soup, canned ravioli, and, most disturbingly, infant formula.

Of the more than 100 independently funded experiments on BPA, about 90% have found evidence of adverse health effects. On the other hand, every single industry funded study ever conducted  (14 in all)  has found no such effects.

My opinion is that we should avoid ALL synthetic chemicals, as much as possible.  Yes, it’s difficult considering we produce BILLIONS of pounds of these chemicals annually, they poison everything they come into contact with, and they NEVER bio-degrade or photo-degrade.  A good, but sobering book to read is:
Our Stolen Future: Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival? A Scientific Detective Story.
Basically, it clearly explains how we are killing ourselves and destroying our Earth with synthetic chemicals.

You can also read an article from Truth About Pet Food to try to figure out if the brand of canned food you get has BPA. Of course, if you feed you cat it’s natural diet of fresh, raw foods, BPA is not an issue!

Since the passing of the Clean Water Act in 1988, sewage treatment plants are not allowed to dump sewage sludge into the ocean.  This is because sewage sludge contains all kinds of pollutants:

Synthetic chemicals, more than 500 found including chemicals from medicines, steroids, flame retardants and detergents,

Heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury and radioactive material,

Bacteria and fungi, including 18 human viruses (including Hepatitis A, Polio), 19 different parasites, and 31 different types of bacteria,

Pharmaceuticals, of 72 pharmaceuticals, three (i.e., cyprofloxacin, diphenhydramine, and triclocarban) were found in 84 sludge samples.

Industrial waste such as arsenic, lead, mercury and radioactive material.

Since sewage sludge is too toxic to put in the ocean, the EPA has decided that it would be great to use it as fertilizer. Sludge is now called “biosolids,” and is defined as the nutrient-rich organic byproduct of the nation’s wastewater treatment process.   

It is now used on millions of acres of farmland in the US, or, if you like to produce toxic veggies you can spread it on your home garden, just look for the brand names Milorganite, Nu-Earth, Nitrohumus, and Baystate Organic.

Using sewage sludge, by any name, is expressly prohibited by the USDA’s organics standards.  Here are a few other resources for those who are interested:

Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies And the Public Relations Industry
John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton
Common Courage Press

Sued and Censored
Michael Moore and TV Nation on Trial for Libel
Texas Observer; March 22, 1996

International Joint Commission
Draft Lake Michigan Management Plan for Toxic Pollutants, Chapter 4

Environmental Working Group
Dishonorable Discharge: Toxic Pollution of America’s Waters

Agency for toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Toxicology Profiles
U.S. Public Health Service

Health effects of heavy metals

I’ll go with the organic food, and organic cat food for my best furry friends!

Most of us think nothing of giving our cats a nice fresh bowl of cold tap water, but that may not be such a good idea, for either you or your cat.

Many pharmaceutical and personal care products are entering rivers from sewage treatment plants or leaching into groundwater from septic systems.

Antibiotics, painkillers, sunscreen, hormones, drugs and much more are routinely found in U.S. waters. In some parts of our nation, male fish are growing female parts because they’re literally swimming in hormones.

Tests have shown that American drinking water is contaminated with perchlorate – the chemical used to make rocket fuel, and pharmaceuticals have been found in the drinking water of 51 million U.S. homes. Perchlorate can interrupt the production of thyroid hormones, and lead to hypothyroidism.

Tests on U.S. drinking water routinely find the residue of legal and illegal drugs, poisons, and synthetic chemicals.

Heavy metals are also seeping into our water. These are inorganic chemical elements with relatively high density, such as mercury, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, nickel and lead.

Did you know that if you drink chlorinated water while pregnant, it can increase your child’s risk of heart problems, cleft palate or major brain defects?

Independent studies in such journals as Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology; Environmental Health Perspectives; American Journal of Public Health; and Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, as well as reports published by the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that millions of Americans become sick each year from drinking contaminated water, with maladies from upset stomachs to cancer and birth defects.

One recent study showed that 62 million Americans drink substandard water.  Many of the chemicals, drugs and toxins are unregulated, (meaning nobody checks to see if they’re in your water supply) so millions of people drink dangerous water that actually still meets U.S. government standards.

Water bottled in plastic is not really safer, and some has been proven to be just plain tap water anyway.  Reverse osmosis filtering systems are the best bet, and a less expensive option is a high quality water filter.

According to Will Falconer, DVM, the diseases that are quite common in cats now were virtually unknown in the late 70’s.

Cats didn’t have thyroid problems, and hyperthyroidism was not in the books or the exam rooms.

Chronic diseases such as heartworm (a dog disease originally), asthma, kidney failure, inflammatory bowel disease, dental calculus and decay, heart disease, and cancer are fairly commonplace now in the feline population.

Wild cats like the lynx and bobcat are not experiencing these chronic degenerative diseases. Wolves don’t die of heartworm disease or have dirty teeth.

We are actually causing these chronic diseases to become more prevalent by administering annual vaccines, feeding toxic food, and using topical flea poisons that warn us not to get them on our skin. You can read the full story by clicking on the following link:

The Cats are Talking… About Chronic Disease

Avocado: All parts of the avocado contain a toxin known as persin. It causes gastrointestinal irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, congestion, fluid accumulation around the tissues of the heart and even death. Cats may be attracted to the oily texture, but should not be fed avocado.

Tuna, all tuna contains mercury which accumulates in the body until it reaches a toxic level. It also can cause nutrient deficiencies.  The BPA which lines tuna cans is an estrogen-disruptor and can play havoc with hormones, including yours.

Grapes and raisins, which can sometimes cause kidney failure in very low amounts.

Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which are both classified as methylxanthines; these can cause hyperactivity, increased heart rate, tremors, and potentially death (the more bitter the chocolate, the more toxic it is for your pets)

Onions and members of the onion family, such as leeks and chives; these can cause damage to red blood cells that could result in anemia in both dogs and cats.

Garlic, which is metabolized into a different metabolite than onions, is not toxic to pets. A small amount of fresh garlic fed to pets daily actually has some great health benefits, including killing parasites and repelling fleas.

Macadamia nuts may cause problems including weakness, depression, vomiting, ataxia, tremors, and hyperthermia.

Rising bread dough can be life-threatening – The bread dough itself is not toxic but the animal’s body heat can cause the dough to rise in the stomach, doubling or tripling in size and leading to impaction. The dough can also produce ethanol, which causes animals to stumble and become disoriented, lethargic and depressed.

Processed Milk, which has had all the vital nutrients destroyed. Pasteurized milk lacks enzymes and “good” bacteria and binds the calcium so that’s it’s unusable.  Homogenized milk has been molecularly changed so that it no longer resembles food and becomes a useless poison, causing allergies and other health problems.  See RAW MILK FACTS

Xylitol, a sugar substitute common in sugar-free chewing gum, can cause life-threatening hypoglycemia and liver damage in dogs; if your dog has ingested gum, bring your dog to the emergency vet immediately!

If your cat is having surgery, including nuetering or spaying, make sure the veterinarian is aware of the recall of Ketamine Hydrochloride Injection, USP CIII 100mg/mL in 10mL vials.  Veterinarians who have this product, made by Teva Animal Health, Inc, are instructed to cease using the product immediately and return it to their distributor.

This latest recall stems from the reported death of five cats, inconclusively linked to the drug’s use. But troubles within Teva Animal Health surfaced last July, when the FDA shut down the company via a permanent injunction and filed a lawsuit, alleging that regulatory inspectors had uncovered adulterated animal drugs at Teva’s main facilities in St. Joseph, Mo.  Click here for the full article.

Apparently a cat in Iowa came down with the H1N1 virus.  In general, cats are not considered susceptible to human flu viruses, but this cat got H1N1 flu from his owners.

On Oct. 27, the cat became sick. The owners called friends who are veterinary researchers at Iowa State University in Ames. The researchers brought in the cat to be studied, and it tested positive for H1N1. It has since recovered and is back home.

For anyone who is concerned about their cat getting the flu, the best defense is a strong immune system.  This has been seen time after time in clinical research, yet it is routinely ignored.  Researchers will inject animals with a virus or some disease-causing substance, and some animals will get sick and some will stay healthy.  The healthy animals are ignored, the sick ones will be studied to learn how various drugs or chemicals affect the illness and suppress symptoms.  The drug industry is a billion dollar business.  It’s simply not profitable to suggest maintaining a strong immune system to avoid illness.

There is a reason why there are untold trillions of bacteria and viruses everywhere: to keep the immune system working properly.  Unfortunately, our cats and other pets, as well as us, have immune systems that are so overburdened from a toxic stew of synthetic chemicals in almost everything we touch, breathe, and eat that they no longer work so well.  You can keep your cat’s immune system strong by feeding a wholesome diet of raw meats from grass-fed animals, supplying filtered water, and eliminating as much as possible synthetic chemicals in food and the environment.

How can you stay healthy? Get rid of the poisons!  Instead of supporting pollution and disease, spend your money on safe organic foods, cleaners, cosmetics and other items.  Eat a lot of RAW unprocessed foods.  Get plenty of sunshine (or vitamin D if that’s not possible).  Drink the purest water possible, filtered is good.  Take a probiotic (there are probiotics for cats too), eat meat only from grass-fed, humanely-treated animals.  Smile, laugh, love, stay positive, get enough sleep, have a pet (of course a cat is excellent…) and believe in your body’s ability to stay strong and healthy.

Organic Pet Superfood Super Immunity Powder for Dogs, canines, felines, and Cats

First of all, I am NOT a fan of Dr. Pottenger, who apparently had no qualms about using cats in experimentation and watching them die. However, his studies on cat nutrition are quite valuable.

Back in the 1930’s, there were no chemical procedures to measure the strength of adrenal extract. So, scientists used cats. Cats die without their adrenal glands. So, the amount of extract the cats needed to keep them alive allowed the manufacturers to calibrate the strength of their product. 

Dr. Pottenger noticed that the laboratory cats showed a decrease in their reproductive capacity and many of the kittens born in the laboratory had skeletal deformities and organ malfunctions, despite the fact that he was feeding them a relatively nutritious diet of raw milk, cod liver oil and cooked meat scraps, which included liver, tripe, sweetbreads, brains, heart and muscle.

He received so many donated cats that he was having a hard time keeping up with the food supply, so he ordered raw meat scraps from a local meat packing plant, including the viscera, muscle and bone.  Being a scientist, he separated the cats so that the ones being fed the all raw diet could be studied.

Within a few months, the cats fed the raw meat appeared healthier, their kittens more vigorous, and they had a higher survival rate after their operations.   The contrast between the two sets of cats was so startling,  Dr. Pottenger decided to perform a controlled experiment to  scientifically prove his new hypothesis that cats fed a raw diet are healthier than cats fed a processed cooked meat diet.

The experiment included 900 cats over four generations and was well documented by Dr. Pottenger.

All four generations of the raw meat and raw milk groups remained healthy throughout their normal lifespans!

This is important to note: cats eating their true diet of raw meats not only had no illness, they thrived generation after generation!  On the other hand:

The first generation of all three processed food groups developed diseases and illnesses near the end of their lives.

The second generation of all three processed food groups developed diseases and illnesses in the middle of their lives.

The third generation of all three processed food groups developed diseases and illnesses in the beginning of their lives and many died before six months of age.

There was no fourth generation in any of the three processed food groups.

You might want to read that again!  Either the third generation parents were sterile or the fourth generation cats died before birth.

Remember, all four generations of the raw food groups were healthy throughout their normal lifespans.

It’s something to think about.  Perhaps we would be healthier also if we ate our optimal diet of mostly raw, unprocessed, chemical-free foods too!

I recently added the FDA’s Pet Health & Safety Widget to the right sidebar on my blog, it’s right under the “Become a Facebook Fan” widget (feel free to become a Facebook Fan!).

I don’t smoke, in fact nobody is allowed to smoke in or near my house, or car.  I guess I’m a bit obsessive about it, but then I’ve learned long ago that it’s way more fun being healthy than being sick.  Still, a lot of people smoke, some of my friends also, and I’ve found that often the biggest incentive to quitting is to protect those we love.  Here is another reason: your love for your pet!

A 2007 University of Minnesota study showed that cats who live with smokers have nicotine and other toxins in their urine.

A 2002 Tufts University study linked second-hand smoke to cancer in cats. The study found that cats living with smokers are twice as likely to develop malignant lymphoma—the most common feline cancer–as those in non-smoking households. Lymphoma kills 3 out of 4 afflicted cats within 12 months.

A 2007 Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine study linked second-hand smoke to oral cancer in cats (squamous cell carcinoma.) Cats living with more than one smoker and cats exposed to environmental tobacco smoke for longer than five years had even higher rates of this cancer.

The ASPCA, one of the largest animal rights groups in the U.S., lists tobacco smoke as a toxin that is dangerous to pets.  Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, medical director of the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center says:

“Nicotine from secondhand smoke can have effects to the nervous systems of cats and dogs. Environmental tobacco smoke has been shown to contain numerous cancer-causing compounds, making it hazardous for animals as well as humans.”

A recent study from Harvard Medical School, published in the January 2009 Journal of Pediatrics, found additional health risks associated with what they termed “third-hand smoke,” describing the invisible yet toxic  gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, cars, and carpeting that lingers long after the second-hand smoke has cleared the room.

One reason cats are so vulnerable to the carcinogens in tobacco smoke is they are meticulous groomers. Daily grooming over a long period of time can expose their delicate oral tissues to hazardous amounts of carcinogens.

Birds who sit on a smoker’s nicotine-coated hand often develop dermatitis and end up pulling out their own feathers.

Another study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that dogs in smoking households have a 60 percent greater risk of lung cancer.