I hate to say it, Tweed, but I've read some alarming statistics about
stomach lymphoma in cats and second hand smoke. It's pretty clear. I blame
myself for Grant's death. I began smoking outside immediately. I have cut
WAY back and should be able to quit this winter. Megan can jump all over me
if she wants. I don't think I was being a jerk or whatever but sometimes we
just don't believe things until it happens to us. It's pretty recent but
there is a clear correlation between that specific lymphoma in cats and
smoke exposure.

Christina Websell <spamfree@tinawebsell.wanadoo.co.uk> wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

Just accept that it's wrong to smoke around kids and pets (and
humans, for that matter), and that they will die prematurely.  Kami
gets ousted from the area when I use hairspray or do my nails.  
Can't imagine smoking on a pet, asthma or not.

 Tweed wrote:

The AVMA and Tuft's University are saying it looks that way. Considering
the number of smokers and the number of cats likely owned by them, with
a 2-4x increased risk of cancer I'd say that yes, droves of cats are
dying because of their selfish, irresponsible humans.

From Tuft's :
http://enews.tufts.edu/printerversion/080102PetsAndSmoke.htm

Smokers Put Pets At Risk

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Tufts report a link
between second-hand smoke and cancer in cats.
No. Grafton, Mass. [08.01.02] -- Providing more scientific evidence
about the deadly effects of second-hand smoke, a new study from Tufts
reports that cats living in homes with smokers are more than twice as
likely than other cats to acquire feline lymphoma cancer. The research -
which is the first of its kind - alters current views on the causes of
lymphoma in cats and may help scientists better understand the causes of
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans.
"It has long been believed that the major cause of feline lymphoma was
feline leukemia virus," Tufts' Dr. Antony Moore said in a report in
Science Daily. "The results of our study clearly indicate that exposure
to environmental factors such as second-hand tobacco smoke has
devastating consequences for cats because it significantly increases
their likelihood of contracting lymphoma."
The evidence - reported by researchers at Tufts' School of Veterinary
Medicine and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst - paints a
dramatic picture of the risks associated with second-hand smoke.
"They found that, adjusting for age and other factors, cats exposed to
secondhand smoke had more than double the risk of acquiring the
disease," reported the Associated Press. "In households where they were
exposed five years or more, cats had more than triple the risk. In a
two-smoker household, the risk went up by a factor of four."
In some cases, cats were at higher risk for cancer than humans living in
the same home.
"Exposure levels in cats continuously kept indoors may actually be
higher than those of human household members, who often spend extended
periods of time outside their homes," reported Science Daily. "Cats
become exposed by inhaling the smoke or by digesting it when they groom
themselves and lick particulate matter off their fur."
Based on their findings with cats, the Tufts researchers believe their
work may provide new evidence that second-hand smoke and lymphoma in
humans are linked.
"Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans, like feline lymphoma, is a cancer
that starts in lymph tissue and can spread to other organs," reported
USA Today. "The new study suggests that components of tobacco smoke have
a cancerous effect on lymphoid tissue, researchers say."
Moore also hopes the findings provide another compelling reason to quit
smoking.
"I think there's a lot of people who might not quit smoking for
themselves or their family," Moore said in the Associated Press report,
which was published in newspapers around the country. "But they might
for their cats."

Megan 
 

                                   

And emphysema, and lung cancer, etc.

It only shows that you have no concept of the power of addiction or of just
how addicting nicotine is for most smokers.

Jo

The worst thing I ever saw was a woman playing bingo that had an oxygen
setup hooked to her wheelchair, with a tube going to her nose,
chainsmoking.

Megan

                                   

I've read before that giving up smoking is harder than coming off heroin. I
know how hard it was for me to stop, I'm never suprised when people carry
on, even when they know it's killing them. People who have never smoked can
have no idea what it's like.

LOL - I know what you mean, but I suppose there are "other" ways of
smoking the funny stuff than in cigarettes, I can't though it makes me
a bit paranoid now cos it's too strong for me these days, sigh.