Cannabis is TOXIC to Dogs and Cats

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.

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tip top toker said:

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.

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Carne Seca said:

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.

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patrickkawi37 said:

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?

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FootballFirst said:

probably chocolate

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Total Head said:

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.

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