Number of Cannabis Poisoning Incidents in Dogs Has Dramatically Increased

A study of veterinarians in the United States and Canada reveals an increase in occurrences of cannabis toxicity in dogs, as well as new information about symptoms, treatments, and outcomes.

On April 20, 2022, Richard Quansah Amissah of the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and coworkers will publish their findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Cannabis poisoning to pets

(Photo : FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Pets exposed to cannabis, most commonly by ingestion, may exhibit varying degrees of severity of cannabis poisoning, also known as cannabis-induced toxicosis, as per ScienceDaily.

While past research indicated that incidents of cannabis poisoning in pets are on the rise, the true scope of the problem, including typical pet outcomes, has remained unknown.

Amissah and colleagues evaluated survey data from 251 veterinarians in Canada or the United States to gain a better knowledge of cannabis toxicity in dogs.

The poll, which was conducted in 2021, asked participants about cannabis poisoning instances they had experienced in prior years.

According to a statistical analysis of survey results, the number of cannabis poisoning cases increased dramatically in both the United States and Canada following the legalization of cannabis in Canada in 2018.

The most common cause of poisoning was unattended ingestion of cannabis edibles, however, it was unclear what proportion of cannabis products had been purchased for human use versus medical usage by dogs.

The authors highlight that the post-legalization increase might be attributed to increasing cannabis usage, but that greater reporting could also have had a role.

Cannabis poisoning was most common in dogs, although it was also found in cats, iguanas, ferrets, horses, and cockatoos.

While the majority of instances were benign, reported symptoms in dogs included urine incontinence, confusion, and an unusually slow heart rate.

The majority of the animals were treated with outpatient monitoring, and virtually all of them recovered fully.

Veterinarians reported that dogs died as a result of cannabis poisoning in a limited number of cases, while the researchers add that other potential explanations, such as underlying illnesses, could not be ruled out in the study.

They advocate for more study on the effects of cannabis on dogs to assist improve veterinarian efforts and policies to keep pets healthy, as the usage of cannabis products continues to grow.

Monitoring your pets

"I expected to observe poisonings in cats and dogs, but not in the other species," said Jibran Khokhar, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College.

The amount of recorded animal deaths was also startling, he noted, "particularly because we don't know of any cannabis-related deaths in people."

Sixteen animals died after taking cannabis, according to reports, but vets were unable to rule out other reasons, such as underlying diseases or other chemicals in the goodies.

While Khokhar believes cannabis may have played a part in the fatalities, other elements, such as chocolate, which is deadly to dogs, are likely to have had a greater influence.

In reality, the researchers' major objective was to define what cannabis-induced poisoning looks like in dogs so that they might concentrate on producing a medicine to counteract the symptoms.

Urinary incontinence, confusion, and an unusually slow heart rate were the most commonly detected symptoms in dogs.

The most typical intervention was to keep the pet at the vet for one to two days for monitoring.

The next stage of the research will involve simulating cannabis poisoning in rats to better understand how the toxin affects the brain.

The team then intends to utilize what it discovers to create a medicine that can reverse the effects and perhaps eliminate the need for monitoring.

Tags Cannabis poisoning, pets