In Colorado, U.S., both medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal.
Humans can make the choice whether to use marijuana or not, but pets cannot. Most of the time pets are exposed to marijuana accidentally.
Often people add marijuana to baked goods or other foods and carelessly leave these items within a dog’s reach. Cats are usually not interested in human food unless it’s part of a meat, fish or chicken dish. Two dogs died choking on their own vomit after eating food baked with medicinal butter (tetrahydrocannabial-THC).
Since the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, it has been reported that there has been a 400% increase in the number of dogs seen by veterinarians due to toxicity.
Sadly, many users think it’s either fun or just okay to expose their pets to marijuana. But in reality, it is another form of animal abuse.
Among the symptoms of exposure for pets are vomiting, dilated pupils, walking difficulties, muscle tremors and twitches, urinary incontinence.
Pets with cancer, arthritis or other painful diseases have been treated by their owners with medicinal marijuana in the hopes of giving them a better quality of life. It’s against the law for veterinarians to prescribe or even recommend treating a pet with marijuana. Owners take a huge risk administering any drugs to a pet without first consulting with a vet, something they cannot do in this case.
Since pets cannot decide for themselves, it’s probably best to use conventional treatments and leave the marijuana to humans who can decide for themselves.
