In the U.S., pot is plentiful and available. But it’s not just humans dipping into their stash.
Companion animals — especially dogs — are drawn to the musky scent. Some are prying open bedside boxes or plucking whole buds off the beaten path and gobbling them like blue-point oysters.
A few pet parents might snicker at the sight of their pooch listing to one side or staring catatonically at a dust bunny for an hour. But most are rightly concerned that these off-behaviors mean that something is very wrong.
Between 2017 and 2021, national call volume related to pot ingestion by pets rose a staggering 275 percent according to Tina Wismer, veterinarian and senior director of the New York-based ASPCA Poison Control Center. In Colorado alone, reports leapt more than ten fold, Wismer told the Los Angeles Times. The spike in reports corresponds to the timeline during which a flood of states — now 48 in all — have legalized cannabis for medicinal or recreational use. In Idaho and Nebraska, pot remains illegal.
Because reporting to the control center is voluntary, these figures likely represent but a fraction of true episodes of cannabis poisoning.
Many reports spring from households growing their own who also have pets, though cannabis overdoses in canines are just as likely to happen in the wild. Dogs ingesting edibles intended for a human several times their weight and size can suffer serious narcotic effects. Several veterinarians have expressed concern that these can be magnified if a dog chews on cannabis laced with chemicals other than THC, the active ingredient in pot. For example, some edibles combine pot with chocolate and/or xylitol, a sugar-free sweetener, both of which are toxic to dogs.
Besides ingestion, canines can also get cannabis poisoning through smoke inhalation or by eating the feces of someone who ingested cannabis.
Symptoms of marijuana toxicity in dogs include unsteadiness on their feet, depression, lethargy, agitation, dilated pupils, dribbling urine, sensitivity to touch and sound, vomiting, tremors, bradycardia (slowed heart rate) and hypothermia. These signs usually manifest within 40 minutes of exposure.
Canine fatalities from cannabis poisoning are extremely rare and usually the result of consuming large amounts of concentrated product. The full, long-term effects on cognition and behavior are unknown.
Anyone suspecting that their dog has cannabis poisoning should contact their veterinarian or a poison control center immediately. In severe cases, treatment might include an infusion of certain lipids used in IV nutrition support to help bind to the marijuana allowing it to be eliminated from the body faster. Moderate cases may require hospitalization for intravenous fluids and supportive care while some mild cases may be managed at home.
“Avoidance is the only prevention,” said Karl Jandrey, professor of veterinary sciences at UC Davis, who urged pet parents to train their dogs not to scarf up strange stuff on walks.
If you’re growing, isolate your pets from your enterprise. If you’re a consumer, hide it in a high and away place. If you’re camping and imbibing, scoop up your scat and pack it out.
CBD for dogs can be a miracle elixir. THC eaten or inhaled by dogs can mean a bad trip for everyone.