Passive Smoke Could Kill Kitty

Scientists have come up with yet another possible reason that smokers -- at least cat-loving smokers -- should kick the habit: Secondhand smoke may give cats a form of feline lymphoma.

Elizabeth Bertone of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and colleagues studied 184 cats that were treated for lymphoma or liver failure. Those exposed to any kind of tobacco smoke had more than double the risk of developing lymphoma, the most common cancer in cats. The longer they were exposed, the greater the risk, the researchers found.

Several recent studies have suggested that people who smoke cigarettes may face an increased risk of developing non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and that children of smokers may face an increased risk.

"These findings suggest that passive smoking may increase the risk of lymphoma in cats and suggests that further study of this relationship in humans is warranted," the researchers wrote in the Aug. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.