July 31, 2002

10:27 AM

Quit for the kitty?Dr. Antony Moore knows smokers often won't quit to protect themselves or their children. But he hopes his new study tying second-hand smoke exposure to the most common kind of feline cancer will persuade some people to kick the habit. (via bko)

Remember folks, every time you light up, God kills a...
posted by adampsyche (36 comments total)

I, personally, have not had a cigarette in 2 weeks, 1 day and 21 1/2 hours. And I have often felt in the past couple of weeks as though I would be happy to roll and smoke a cat. Or anything else. Fagh.
posted by hob at 10:31 AM on July 31, 2002

"So what if it kills my childre..... my cat? oh no, I must quit now, before my precious cat is killed."
posted by benjh at 10:33 AM on July 31, 2002

My girlfriend was able to (finally) sucessfully quit smoking due to the motivation of noticing that one of our cats was coughing when she smoked. She really loves cats...
posted by tdismukes at 10:34 AM on July 31, 2002

hang in there bob. i just passed a year. it doesn't get any better, but it does get easier.
posted by quonsar at 10:36 AM on July 31, 2002

"So what if it kills my childre..... my cat? oh no, I must quit now, before my precious cat is killed."

Or, uh, one might be currently childless. Would you like a ladder with your horse?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:39 AM on July 31, 2002

So I can kill my neighbours millions of cats, just by smoking? Where's my Zippo and my pack of Export A's!?
posted by Dark Messiah at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2002

(for the record, I reaaaly hope this doesn't turn into a pissing match. I just thought the link was interesting.)
posted by adampsyche at 10:40 AM on July 31, 2002

Why would it turn into a pissing match. Cat-lovers (or haters) and smokers aren't groups that tend to get into volatile conv...

*slowly backs out of thread...*
posted by websavvy at 10:46 AM on July 31, 2002

I smoke outside, and I don't confine my cat to the indoors.

My cat is not neurotic and is in the pink of health, and my house and clothes don't smell. What's not to love?
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:50 AM on July 31, 2002

I think this article broke my head.

It has a good point, in that people probably don't consider pets as possible victims to secondhand smoke the way they would consider their children. But to imply, which it totally does that the same people who ignore their children's health would be persuaded by this breaking info...

Ow.
posted by catfood at 10:51 AM on July 31, 2002

I smoke around my cat. Personally, I think the little bitch deserves it.?
posted by interrobang at 10:53 AM on July 31, 2002

It wouldn't bother me, but my cat's up to about a pack and a half a day of Gauloises now. He says they make him look more sophisticated.
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:56 AM on July 31, 2002

Just throw in somthing about the middle east, and we'd have the perfect thread here.

Both my wife and I smoke around our cat, and she turned 18 this year (the cat, not the wife). We must be doing something right. However, we won't - ahem - you know - in front of the cat. Anybody else funny that way?
posted by yhbc at 10:57 AM on July 31, 2002

"Anybody else funny that way?"

I will *never* take a shit with the cat in the room.
posted by interrobang at 10:58 AM on July 31, 2002

of course, cats always look so judgemental...
posted by catfood at 10:59 AM on July 31, 2002

I will *never* take a shit with the cat in the room

Haha. My recently departed kitty would always want to share that moment with me and go at the same time.
posted by HTuttle at 11:09 AM on July 31, 2002

This almost makes me want to take up smoking again.

/kidding!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:18 AM on July 31, 2002

of course, cats always look so judgemental...

Like burying shit with your bare feet is somehow better than flushing it away.

Oh, wait, after they've buried it, they get you to take it away. Cats win.

Again.
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:22 AM on July 31, 2002

my ex-husband couldn't quit smoking but when he found out that 2nd hand smoke was so dangerous to our cats, he immediately stopped smoking in our house. now years later one of said cats has cancer and i wonder if it was too little too late and if i should make him pay my extreme vet bill...! (j/k)

people with spouses, house pets and children...? hello, people with lungs should quit.

hang in there bob...! when i quit i nearly went nuts the first few months, but it was so worth it. it's been 16 years and i've felt and looked like a million bucks ever since.

"Anybody else funny that way?"

nah. they're cats, not people. besides our felines always seem to have an approving, beatific expression on their faces. it's like getting applause for every minor thing you do. i like that 8-)
posted by t r a c y at 11:28 AM on July 31, 2002

This is the emotional kick in the ass I was waiting for. Plus, my skin is starting to age. I quit.
posted by papalotl at 11:36 AM on July 31, 2002

I don't buy the premise of the story; anyone who would disregard the danger of secondhand smoke to their sprogs would also disregard their cats.
posted by rcade at 11:52 AM on July 31, 2002

My cat is radioactive. I think I'll take up smoking in self defense.
posted by maudlin at 11:56 AM on July 31, 2002

Can't help but think anyone who puffs away in front of the kids without a worry, but has second thoughts once they realize it may harm the family pet is exactly who should keep smoking, and remove themselves from the gene pool.

Now where did I leave my lighter this time...
posted by Kellydamnit at 12:11 PM on July 31, 2002

I only smoke after sex, my cat doesn't seem to object then?
posted by johnnyboy at 12:13 PM on July 31, 2002

I smoke outside because I don't like the icky smell and residue inside my apartment (yes, yes, my lungs, I know), and I've always felt a little secret satisfaction that I'm keeping my indoor cats smoke-free. I always thought it was a "childless household" thing, but maybe not...
posted by jess at 12:19 PM on July 31, 2002

I only smoke after sex, my cat doesn't seem to object then?

Ah, so it just rolls over and goes to sleep afterwards? Cats...
posted by bargle at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2002

It is facts such as this (that there are people--and there are--who would stop smoking for a pet but not a kid) that are responsible for my ever-increasing misanthropy.
posted by rushmc at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2002

I quit smoking because my wife won't let me smoke in the apartment, and the cords for the PS2 aren't long enough to reach out to the balcony.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:41 PM on July 31, 2002

I don't buy the premise of the story; anyone who would disregard the danger of secondhand smoke to their sprogs would also disregard their cats.

I'm not so sure. People get terribly sentimental about their cats--perhaps even more sentimental than they get about their children, since cats are, in some ways, like permanent babies.

We won't get into the survey from last year that concluded that most women would rather cuddle their cats than their boyfriends...
posted by thomas j wise at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2002

I was reading this story today about a man who fell into a collapsing sewer while walking his dog, and have to admit the fact the dog died made me feel a lot worse about it. I'm not proud.
posted by Summer at 12:59 PM on July 31, 2002

Amusingly enough, I know a couple that quit smoking because of their dogs.

And no, they don't have children.
posted by Jart at 1:39 PM on July 31, 2002

I followed Charles Mingus's advice and toilet trained my cat. Teaching it to smoke on the windowsill is much, much harder.
posted by sj at 1:47 PM on July 31, 2002

precisely bargle.
posted by johnnyboy at 1:48 PM on July 31, 2002

I only smoke after sex, my cat doesn't seem to object then?

must....resist....urge....oh.....god....theres such a great joke here.......
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:16 PM on July 31, 2002

that are responsible for my ever-increasing misanthropy.

And I thought it was just me with the increasing misanthropy. This info doesn't really help, either.
posted by insomnyuk at 6:07 PM on July 31, 2002

Um, I appear to be the major geek here. I don't have kids, but I do have a cat, and she's one of the reasons I quit. She hated the smoke. I figure we both came out ahead.
posted by swerve at 8:44 PM on July 31, 2002