QUITTING smoking could save your pet's life after new research by the University of Glasgow showed cats are more at risk than dogs.

The ongoing study by scientists found animals living in home with an owner who smoked had a higher risk of cancer, cell damage and weight gain.

The latest research found cats are more at risk than dogs, possibly due to grooming increasing their absorption rate.

Clare Knottenbelt, professor of Small Animal Medicine and Oncology at the university’s Small Animal Hospital, said second hand smoke had previously been shown to increase the risk of certain animal cancers, including lymphoma and oral cancer in cats, and lung, nasal and sinus cancer in dogs.

She said: "Smoking risks ongoing cell damage, increasing weight gain after castration and has previously been shown to increase the risk of certain cancers.

“We have already shown that dogs can take in significant amounts of smoke when living in a smoking household. Our current study in cats shows they are even more affected."

Prof Knottenbelt said the 'extensive' grooming done by cats may, in part, explain why they are more affected as they are taking more smoke into the body.

She added: "As an incidental finding, we also observed that dogs living with a smoker owner gained more weight after neutering than those in a non-smoking household.”

When researchers examined the male dogs which had been castrated they found a gene - which acts as a marker of cell damage - was higher in dogs in smoking homes than those in non-smoking homes.

The gene has been shown to be altered in some dog cancers in other studies.

Vet Victoria Smith is investigating the links between passive smoking and lymphoma, a cancer of the blood cells in cats.

She said their research had shown cats could take in significant amounts of smoke and having outdoor access made "very little difference".

She said owners who consistently smoked away from their pet did not protect them from exposure but did reduce the amount of smoke taken into the body.

The study also showed that when owners reduced the total numbers of tobacco products smoked in the home to less than 10 per day the nicotine levels in the hair dropped significantly but were still higher than those in cats from non-smoking homes.

Professor Knottenbelt added: “We are all aware of the risks to our health of smoking and it is important we do everything we can to encourage people to stop smoking. As well as the risk to the smoker, there is the danger of second-hand smoke to others. Pet owners often do not think about the impact that smoking could have on their pets.”

"While you can reduce the amount of smoke your pet is exposed to by smoking outdoors and by reducing the number of tobacco products smoked by the members of the household, stopping smoking completely is the best option for your pet’s future health and wellbeing.”

The study is ongoing and the research paper is expected to be published in 2016.