Link between dirty air and more veterinary visits for your cat or dog

There is a link, as confirmed by a study, between living in a place where the air is dirty i.e. polluted and increased veterinary visits for cats and dogs. This is unsurprising because we know that polluted air causes health problems for people so why not for pets?

PM 2.5 pollutants harm cats and dogs too
PM 2.5 pollutants harm cats and dogs too

I guess it just needed to be confirmed through a scientific study. This research was carried out by a team at the London School of Economics (LSE). They estimated that cutting out a pollutant in the air produced by vehicles and power stations to levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) would save about £15 million annually in pet care costs.

That particular pollutant referred to is PM 2.5 particulate matter. This is small, indeed minute, particles shed from tyres and brake linings for example which are 2.5 microns wide. They’re in the air and people and pets breathe them in as they breathe in carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide from exhaust fumes.

As mentioned, a link has already been established between high PM 2.5 levels and hospital admissions for people.

The research team analysed information from visits by 2 million cats and 5 million dogs to hundreds of veterinary clinics between 2017 and 2022. They compared these figures with nearby pollution levels.

They concluded that a 1 mcg/m³ increase in PM 2.5 levels is linked with a 0.7% jump in veterinary visits.

They then calculated the impact of companion animal health and the cost of veterinary visits if those pollutant levels were reduced to World Health Organisation permitted levels which are 5 mcg/m³ for these pollutants. And they concluded that total trips to the vet would be reduced by 0.4% a year or 80,000 visits in the UK.

The information also impliedly states that the pollutant levels are higher than WHO levels.

Steven Jarvis, one of the researchers and I believe the lead author of the study said that: “We spend a lot of money on our pets, which is reflective of how important they are to people. Part of the takeaway for me was we have a better understanding of the impacts of air pollution on human health. [But] there’s a whole set of other benefits that accrue to pets and their owners. They are not being accounted for at all.”

The study provides us with another reason why greater efforts should be made to reduce air pollution. The study did not look at air pollution inside the home. This is important. When there is air pollution outside the home there is air pollution inside the home and sometimes it’s worse inside than outside because the air is trapped.

The team reduced the chances of the increase in veterinary visits been caused by other means because the study looked at data over a long period and in different areas.

And apparently, in many of these cases, the symptoms were recorded by veterinarians as “other unwell”. In other words, idiopathic causes. The vet didn’t know why the cats and dogs were ill or perhaps didn’t even know what the illness was because it was a general malaise or general illness.

It’s hoped that the research encourages veterinarians to take air pollution more seriously.

The research may also affect insurance premiums for those cats and dogs covered by pet health insurance. We can now link air pollution to a pet’s home. In areas where there is substantial pollution insurance premiums may go up. And vice versa.

This may be particularly relevant for flat-faced pets such as Persians for cats and pugs for dogs. Or the French bulldog which is apparently the unhealthiest purebred dog on the planet with a lifespan of about seven years and 21 inherited illnesses!

Both have flat faces which distorts the breathing apparatus which could lead to even worse breathing problems in areas of heavy pollution.

The mechanism as to why air pollution influences the health of pets is exactly the same mechanism as to why it affects the health of people.

One problem that people have with air pollution is that we can’t see it. People are very visually orientated. If you can’t see it it doesn’t exist but it does unfortunately. I’ve always said that if car exhaust pollution and PM 2.5 particulate matter pollution was coloured pink with see it and we would all move home within a matter of months!

Leave a Comment

follow it link and logo