Cannabis is TOXIC to Dogs and Cats

[Shannon Alexander]

Last season my dog topped a few of my plants... halved their height for me... Yay... he hasn't had any problems...

 

[Carne Seca]

Marijuana intoxication may occur in pets that have access to marijuana plants, dried portions of the plants, or foodstuffs containing marijuana.
Serious long-term health consequences and fatality from marijuana intoxication are essentially unheard of. However, pets that are exposed to marijuana may display anxiety and disorientation, and are prone to "bad trips". Intoxicated pets may lack the coordination necessary to consume food and water.
Intoxication with marijuana appears clinically similar to other, more serious forms of poisoning. However, most animals recover from marijuana toxicity over a period of several hours.

Symptoms

• Anxiety, panting, and agitation commonly occur following exposure to marijuana.
• In some pets, marijuana toxicity results in profound lethargy that can border on unconsciousness.
• Pets suffering from marijuana intoxication often show impaired balance. They may stagger, stumble, and fall attempting to walk.
• Drooling, vomiting, and diarrhea may occur.
• After exposure to marijuana, pets may lose bowel and bladder control. This results in house soiling (cats, dogs).
• Extreme responses to noises, movements, and other forms of sensory stimulation may occur in pets that are exposed to marijuana. These responses can manifest as trembling or jerking of the head or extremities. In severe cases, the responses may appear similar to seizures.

Risk Factors and Prevention

• The main risk factor is the presence of whole marijuana plants, dried plant parts, or foods containing marijuana in the pet's environment.
• Deliberate exposure of pets to marijuana is not unheard of. People may intentionally feed marijuana to pets, or deliberately expose pets to marijuana smoke.

Complications

Long-term complications from exposure to marijuana are exceedingly rare. However, pets suffering from marijuana intoxication may injure themselves due to lack of coordination. Dehydration can result when pets are unable to consume water.

Diagnosis

In many cases, diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms in combination with known or potential exposure to marijuana.
In some instances, extensive diagnostic testing is performed to ensure that other, more serious forms of intoxication are not occurring.
Test kits designed to detect marijuana in the urine of humans may be used to diagnose marijuana intoxication in dogs and cats. This method of diagnosis has not been scientifically validated, but it appears to be accurate.

Treatment

The goal of treatment is to nurse the pet and prevent anxiety until the period of intoxication is complete. Noise and other sensory stimuli should be minimized. Some pets require sedatives or injections of fluids.
If a large quantity of marijuana is in a pet's stomach, the attending veterinarian may cause the pet to vomit.

Follow-up

Most cases of marijuana intoxication resolve over a period of 3 - 12 hours.

Miscellaneous

Because it is a controlled substance, people who know that their pet has consumed marijuana are often reluctant to reveal this fact to veterinarians. The symptoms of marijuana intoxication are similar to those of several more serious syndromes. If the veterinarian treating the pet is not aware of marijuana exposure, he or she is likely to recommend a number of expensive tests and treatments that may not be necessary.

Basically? It give your pet a bad trip.

 

[polyarcturus]

science is better than bullshit. chocolate is bad for dog as are many things just like up. but cannabis is good for everything damn near not bad for animals thats for sure
http://www.inquisitr.com/229463/medical-marijuana-can-be-safe-treatment-for-pets-experts-say/

all i have to say on the matter is ive smoked with countless animals, from birds to turtles, and i have yet to see one negative effect. i would never feed "edibles" to a dog unless they where chocolate free.

i guess i have one thing more, do you remember your first time smoking? well your dog probably weighs 1/3 just watch the dosage. some can handle it better than others. i imagine if i smoke 3x what i smoked the first time i might have shit myself too. i see a lot of propaganda on this but there is real science that disproves all that bullshit i just saw come up on google. cannabis is safe for dogs, cats, turtles,deer, rats, mice, birds,ferrets probably more but this is from my experience.

 

[lokie]

I did not blow smoke in my cat face, my cat would run out and jump onto the table when i was smoking.

And hey, if they don't like it, they would walk away, personally i couldn't care. There's not much you can feed your pet let alone keep your pet which isn't poisonous to them in one form or another.

I had a Scottish Terrier that would sit right in front of me while toking.
he would stop whatever he was doing and stare at me when ever he saw the bong on the table.

he would come running from another room if he heard me hitting the bong.

 

[RainbowBrite86]

I'm not one to force a pet to "get high". But I will say, my cat will jump right up on my lap, put one paw on each side of my mouth while she holds her nose to my mouth while I blow out. And that is like...the only thing she does I think is cute besides sleep. Little shit. But it's never made her sick or anything but happy really. And she's pretty young, she's less than 6 months old.

 

[Carne Seca]

I don't think any of you are allowing your pets to amass the levels of toxicity that cause the issues mentioned in my previous post. Most of the worst cases were due to people trapping animals under a box or bowl and then blowing large amounts of smoke into the enclosed area. I really don't think any of you are that cruel. Some of the cases are from ingesting edibles. The problem here is your cat and dog have less body mass and different physiologies than we do. They are not human. They can't take the amount of Cannabis in their systems that we can tolerate and still stay conscious. Since you all say your animals are fine is a fair indication that you're not overdoing it. I hope.

 

[DrHempenstein]

lol me and my brother got a mouse so high its back legs were paralyzed for like an hour before it stopped army crawling around in circles and then just came to like nothing happened

 

[Carne Seca]

Case in point.......

 

[lokie]

be careful MJ is a gateway drug dont ya know.

 

[guy incognito]

I got a mouse so high that it grew an ear off it's back.

 

[FootballFirst]

for all of you whose pets ate marijuana, doen't marijuana have to be activated with heat before it becomes psychoactive?

 

[imchucky666]

I don't think any of you are allowing your pets to amass the levels of toxicity that cause the issues mentioned in my previous post. Most of the worst cases were due to people trapping animals under a box or bowl and then blowing large amounts of smoke into the enclosed area. I really don't think any of you are that cruel. Some of the cases are from ingesting edibles. The problem here is your cat and dog have less body mass and different physiologies than we do. They are not human. They can't take the amount of Cannabis in their systems that we can tolerate and still stay conscious. Since you all say your animals are fine is a fair indication that you're not overdoing it. I hope.

Not only that, but the pets don't know why they start feeling different or how to control it, or how much is 'enough'.

 

[patrickkawi37]

i think we should be more worried about what people feed their animals. shwag dog food is much worse then getting your dog stoned im sure.

i didnt get my dog high (on purpose) until she was a year or so old. now it mellows her out and i dont blow it in her ear or face directly.. she will just cruise over sometimes at night when im taking a bong toke and sit down right at my feet, if she didnt like it, why would she do that?

 

[RainbowBrite86]

i think we should be more worried about what people feed their animals. shwag dog food is much worse then getting your dog stoned im sure.

i didnt get my dog high (on purpose) until she was a year or so old. now it mellows her out and i dont blow it in her ear or face directly.. she will just cruise over sometimes at night when im taking a bong toke and sit down right at my feet, if she didnt like it, why would she do that?

Maybe she wants to make sure you don't start a fire after you fall asleep...jk

 

[cannabineer]

probably chocolate

This right here. Theobromine is definitely bad for dogs. cn

 

[lokie]

We make our dogs food. the little fucks get chicken breast every night.

It is better for them and there is little appreciable difference in the price of canned.

 

[Total Head]

when my cat was 6 months old he got into some strong brownies on top of a huge hutch and ate what i estimate to be about a golf ball sized amount, (1.5 oz. at most, about 3% of his body weight) and all that happened is he got stoned stupid for a full 24 hours. i will admit to getting very scared and calling a friend of a friend who is a veterinarian, but she said if he was breathing ok there wasn't a whole lot a vet could do because the stuff was already digested and there's not exactly an antidote.

he didn't move much, just sat on his ass with glossy eyes and swayed side to side with what looked like a smile on his face, he couldn't walk straight, and he just kept falling over and napping. i would never do that to him on purpose, but if body weight is an indicator, and he ate a brownie that was 3% of his body weight, that would be like me eating a brownie that weighed 7 pounds. all that happened was he got stoned and slept it off, just like you or i would. i would not recommend it to anyone ever, but no deaths occurred.

 

[guy incognito]

when my cat was 6 months old he got into some strong brownies on top of a huge hutch and ate what i estimate to be about a golf ball sized amount, (1.5 oz. at most, about 3% of his body weight) and all that happened is he got stoned stupid for a full 24 hours. i will admit to getting very scared and calling a friend of a friend who is a veterinarian, but she said if he was breathing ok there wasn't a whole lot a vet could do because the stuff was already digested and there's not exactly an antidote.

he didn't move much, just sat on his ass with glossy eyes and swayed side to side with what looked like a smile on his face, he couldn't walk straight, and he just kept falling over and napping. i would never do that to him on purpose, but if body weight is an indicator, and he ate a brownie that was 3% of his body weight, that would be like me eating a brownie that weighed 7 pounds. all that happened was he got stoned and slept it off, just like you or i would. i would not recommend it to anyone ever, but no deaths occurred.

Maybe all my cats have been stoners? I never found any paraphernalia but this describes them to a T. How else can you explain 23 hours of sleep, only waking to eat, poop, and lazily bat around a ball of yarn before napping again?

 

[lahadaextranjera]

[h=2]

[/h]

I had a cat that used to get high of her own accord. When I was smoking she'd go above me to inhale the smoke and then she'd go to my bed facing the corners of the wall. My Mum thought it was awful until she saw the cat jumping up my leg to smell the joint one day. "she wouldn't do that if it was a cigarette Mum". She was really surprised and let us get on with it. I had that cat for 15-16 years. I'd never get an animal stoned on purpose. Friends cats have positioned themselves on the backs of sofas before too.

Let it be their choice. Animals are not stupid.​

 

[ClaytonBigsby]

They are your pet, at your mercy. If you love your pet, you wouldn't do anything stupid that may cause them harm. Try to be smarter than they are.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/marijuana.aspx

http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2012/10/stoner-dog-cases-are-way-up-vets-say.html

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1677&aid=2254

http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/vet-dept/small-animal-dept/treating-marijuana-toxicity.aspx?cm_mmc=4926998


[h=1]'Stoner Dog' Cases are Way Up, Vets Say[/h]By Andrew Lu on October 3, 2012 5:45 AM | No TrackBacks
Veterinarians are reporting that "stoner dog" cases are way up. If you're wondering what a stoner dog is, it's exactly what it sounds like, dogs who get high off their owner's marijuana.
While a stoner dog may sound funny (there are actually quite a few stoner dog YouTube clips), the reality is that cannabis and your canine may be a bad mix. Marijuana can be extremely toxic for dogs, reports CBS.
As medical marijuana gains in popularity and acceptance, vets in Colorado say they have seen a spike in dogs getting stoned. Before, doctors say that they saw maybe a few cases a year.
Now, they say they see a stoned dog almost every day of the week.
When a dog gets high, it often acts a lot like a person high on marijuana. The dog can lose its fine motor control, making them wobbly, and they can become lethargic, reports CBS. While most dogs who get a hold of marijuana do survive, some vets believe that the drug is much more toxic to dogs with deaths even being reported.
Part of the problem seems to be the casual nature in which dog owners treat marijuana and baked goods containing pot, reports CBS. For example, while you are likely to keep your heart disease or cancer medication safely in your medicine cabinet, people are much more likely to leave weed or pot brownies lying around. As a result, dogs have been eating them.
Besides losing your dog to sickness or death by exposing them to marijuana, it's conceivable that a pet owner could be charged with animal abuse. Though we've heard of no such cases, dog owners should think twice about the potential of being charged with a crime.
People who use medicinal marijuana should treat it as any other prescription drug and keep the drug safe from dogs, small children, and anyone else. A stoner dog is potentially a dead dog, and man's best friend deserves better.
Related Resources:
· 'Stoner dog' epidemic sees dramatic rise in number of hospitalized pets (Yahoo!)
· Dog Custody Battle Has Cost NY Man $60K in Legal Fees (FindLaw's Law & Daily Life)
· TX Dog 'Lucky' Inherits Master's Huge Estate (FindLaw's Law & Daily Life)