Can smokey conditions affect outside cats?

[DebbieLamb]

We've had a lot of smoke here since mid-July from forest fires. Some days, it's pretty thick and other days it's just a bit hazy. I know that the smoke can affect people who have breathing problems, but I'm wondering about my outside cats. Is there anyone else that is living in an area where there is a lot of smoke that has outside cats? Have you noticed the smoke affecting your cats at all?

 

[fionasmom]

Most information about smoke inhalation is written from the emergency perspective of an animal caught in a house fire or close to a wildfire. If your cats are outdoors, such as a feral group you tend to, there is less that you can do for them but there are a few suggestions below.

This article gives some precautions.
Wildfire smoke and animals
California Wildfire Smoke: Helping Pets Cope

If your air quality is bad and they have an option for being inside, even temporarily, that would be a good move for them. Hopefully others will respond who live in a similar area

 

[game misconduct]

i would assume its still bad for them with all the fine dust from ashes floating around to

 

[daftcat75]

It's absolutely bad for them. I feel so bad for outdoor animals in Southern Oregon and Northern California the last several years. The best thing to do for outside animals is to bring them indoors. But if that's not an option, if you have a garage or some other partially enclosed space, you can create an oasis. Use box fans or shop fans and get the air circulating. If you can also put moisture into the air like with a swamp cooler or a bucket of ice in front of the fan(s), that should help condense those smaller harmful fine particulates so more of them fall out of the air as dirty water droplets instead of entering deeply into animal lungs. Air purifiers are more helpful for indoor spaces. If you have indoor animals and you live in a smoky region, I recommend getting HEPA filters for indoors. The fine particulates in smoke can enter through closed doors and windows. These particulates are smaller than 2.5 microns--1/20th the diameter of a human hair or 1/4 the size of pollen. They can reach deeply into the lungs and cross the capillary walls into the bloodstream. They can even cross the brain blood barrier. It was the headaches I was getting from the Camp Fire of 2018 that prompted me to get my first Dyson air purifier. If you have the money to spend on one, it's well worth it. But even small HEPA filters are useful and helpful for keeping indoor spaces clean.

 

[vyger]

Day after day after day it has been horrible here, The sky is orange the tastes terrible and I am now on my third sinus infection. Really its pretty bad. Some of the cats are bothered a little by it, they occasional cough but not as bad as me. What has bothered us more is the heat and the dryness. Everything is shriveled, the trees and bushes have dropped their leaves and the grasshoppers have snipped off everything that was left. But hey, no leaves means there is nothing to burn except on the ground. We are surviving, nobody has burst into flames yet, but we are all hoping this comes to an end soon.

 

[fionasmom]

Take care of yourself.....it is miserable what is happening right now in so many places.