The study, published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, surveyed veterinarians in Canada and the United States about their experiences with cannabis poisoning after Canada and several US states legalized marijuana.
Veterinarians have reported an increase in cases, which could be due to increased access to legal cannabis products in some US states and Canada, which legalized cannabis in 2018. It could also be due to more people being willing to report the real reason for their pets’ symptoms, Khokhar said.
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A survey of veterinarians found that cases of poisoning occurred more often in dogs. However, cats, iguanas, ferrets, horses and cockatoos have also fallen victim to the hallucinogenic effects of marijuana.
“Most cases of cannabis toxicity have occurred orally, through ingestion of edibles or discarded joint tips or dried plant materials,” said study author Jibran Khokhar, an assistant professor at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in Ontario. , Canada.
“It is important to remember that our pets are not small people. They are very different creatures with different metabolisms, so they can have serious results from ingesting marijuana,” said Dr. Dana Varble, veterinary director of the North American Veterinary Community.
“The effects on a small animal will be much stronger than you or I could experience,” said Varble, who was not involved in the study.
“For a dog or cat that doesn’t really understand why they might feel a certain way, we certainly see disorientation, distress and anxiety,” she said.
There is a double danger, she added. Many of today’s edibles come packaged in chocolate and fruit flavors, which are very appealing to dogs and even cats, she said. Chocolate, grapes, raisins and citrus fruits are toxic to dogs and cats, as is the sweetener xylitol that can be used in marijuana gums.
“We now have a dog or cat that is not only suffering from the toxic effects of THC, but also multidrug toxicity,” Varble said. “This certainly complicates treatment for the pet and adds to the anxiety and expense for the pet’s parent.”
“When the drug is legalized, more people will be willing to report it,” Khokhar said. “In the past, they may have come in with the same issue and said, ‘I don’t know what happened to my pet.’
Most people told their vet that the exposure happened accidentally, according to the survey.
“However, I don’t think we can rule out intentional use, whether for recreational or medicinal purposes,” Khokhar said, pointing to videos on social media that show people intentionally giving marijuana to their dogs or cats.
“People may also be giving their pet THC or CBD for medicinal purposes, but there are a handful of indications that CBD actually works — everything else is a lie,” he said. “Cannabis-based drugs are not approved for veterinary use.”
The most common symptoms in cannabis-exposed pets included disorientation, lethargy, abnormal or uncoordinated movements such as rocking, decreased heart rate, and urinary incontinence.
“Animals peed everywhere,” Khokhar said. “And the last was the heightened sensitivity of the senses — everything from sensitivity to light, to astonishment when touched or when they heard a sound.”
Most pets recovered, sometimes after 24 to 48 hours at the veterinary hospital, the study found. Sixteen dogs died after ingesting marijuana, he said, but “it is difficult to assess whether the death was related to the cannabis itself or to other ingredients in edible cannabis, such as chocolate.”
Pet owners must be extremely cautious about keeping pets away from any cannabis-containing products, storing them in locked containers and in places the pet can’t access, Varble said.
“The other thing pet owners need to remember is that those adorable child-proof bottles we keep prescription drugs in are not dog-proof,” he added. “Anyone who has ever seen a dog chew on a plastic toy or shoe can see how easily that can happen.”
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