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Smoke Without Fur 

IN Sant Agata, a small village in the mountains near Sorrento, there is a caf with a large mural of a cat smoking a cigarette. Pudding reveals the secret of long life

In the Swinging Sixties, the cat would arrive at 7pm every evening, take his regular seat and, if offered a cigarette, would puff happily away. Photographs on the wall suggest that there was no shortage of people offering him fags. . .

For today's Times reports that cats whose owners smoke live shorter lives as a consequence of acquiring feline lymphoma. The RSPCA describes the finding as "important", but the novelist Beryl Bainbridge, who is well known for her enjoyment of both cigarettes and alcohol, is not convinced.

"I used to own two cats, Pudding and Gerald, but I don't think they suffered any ill-effects from my smoking," she says. "They both lived until 20."

Testimony to the harmlessness of second-hand tobacco smoke, it appears. Or to the restorative qualities of gin.

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