Eating Cigarettes Unhealthy for Pets

While secondhand smoke can adversely impact a pet's health, so can swallowing a cigarette.
Tobacco products can be fatal to dogs, cats and birds if ingested, according to Jill Richardson. DVM, of the ASPGA Animal Poison Control Center.
"It's more common of a dog than a cat to eat cigarettes, bul amazingly, pet birds often chew on them, too," she said.
Signs of nicotine poisoning car develop within 15 to 45 minutes and include excitation, salivation, panting, vomiting and diarrhea, Dr. Richardson said. Signs of advanced stage nicotine poisoning include muscle weakness, twitching, depression, collapse, coma, increased heart rate and cardiac arrest. Death can result from respiratory paralysis.
For households with smokers, Richardson recommends keeping cigarettes, cigars, nicotine patches and nicotine gum out of pets' reach. She also suggests emptying ashtrays frequently because butts contain about 25 percent of the total nicotine content of a cigarette.

VETERINARY PRACTICE NEWS • NOVEMBER 2002