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Cigarettes a hazard to a pet's health, too
published 06/22/2009 | View all articles from this day
Everyone knows cigarette smoking is dangerous, but what about cigarette eating? Nicotine poisoning is a real concern anywhere a pet may find cigarettes, cigarette butts, chewing tobacco, or even nicotine gum or patches.
The toxic dose for nicotine in pets is 20 milligrams to 100 milligrams. A cigarette contains 9 milligrams to 30 milligrams of nicotine, and a cigarette butt contains about 25 percent of the nicotine of the original cigarette, despite its deceptively small amount of tobacco. (Smoking seems to concentrate some of the nicotine in the tail end of the cigarette.)
Some good news: One of the first things nicotine does in the body is induce vomiting, which may save the pet’s life. Still, if you think your pet has eaten cigarettes or other tobacco products, call your veterinarian right away.
And as always, the best medicine is preventive: Watch what your pets get into.
All information copyright 2009 by Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori.
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