Disease description:
Marijuana, made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. The pure form of marijuana's active ingredient, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is available as dronabinol; a synthetic form is available as nabilone. The concentration of THC in marijuana varies from 1% to 8%. In hashish, which is derived from the resin of the flowering tops of the hemp plant, the concentration varies from 3% to 6%; in hash oil it varies from 30% to 50%. 1 Other properties of THC give it controversial medicinal properties: appetite stimulation and nausea control.
d-THC targets the brain, where it interacts with all major neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine and binds to specific receptors in the cerebellum and frontal cortex. A reported minimal lethal oral dose of d-THC in the dog is > 3 g although clinical signs of a "physiologic" effect occur at much lower doses. 1
In a retrospective study of 250 marijuana exposure cases, dogs accounted for 96% of the exposures, cats accounted for 3%, and other species accounted for 1%.2 An LD50 has not been established in dogs or cats. However research in dogs and monkeys showed that oral doses of delta 9-THC and delta 8-THC ranging from 3,000 to 9,000 mg/kg were not lethal, and all dogs recovered within 24 hours of ingestion. At higher doses, clinical signs in monkeys persisted up to five days. No histopathologic lesions were noted in dogs or monkeys. 1
Disease description in this species:
Clinical signs
Of 213 reports of dogs that developed clinical signs following oral exposure to marijuana, 99% manifested neurologic signs such as incoordination, listlessness, stupor, along with dilated pupils, slow heart rate and sometimes urinary incontinence. Gastrointestinal signs, such as vomiting, occurred in 30% of the cases. Injected conjunctiva, hypothermia, and hypotension might also occur. Onset of signs ranged from 5 min to 96 h, with most signs occurring within 1 to 3 h after ingestion. The signs lasted from 30 min to 96 h. Because THC is stored in the body's fat deposits, the effects of marijuana ingestion can last for days.
The amount of marijuana ingested ranged from 1/2 to 90 g. The lowest dose at which signs occurred was 84.7 mg/kg and the highest reported dose was 26.8 g/kg. 2 Marijuana toxicity can look similar to intoxication with numerous other sedatives. Veterinarians are not obligated to report marijuana intoxications to local police.
There is one case report of atopy due to marijunana exposure diagnosed via intradermal skin testing and treated by hyposensitization. 5
References:
1) Donaldson CW: Marijuana exposure in animals. Vet Med 2002 Vol 97 pp. 437-439.
2) Janczyk P, Donaldson CW, Gualtney S: Two hundred and thirteen cases of marijuana toxicoses in dogs. Vet Hum Toxicol 2004 Vol 46 (1) pp. 19-21.
3) Poppenga RH: Illicit Drug Intoxications of Small Animals. Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference 2001.
4) Dumonceaux GA, Beasley VR: Emergency treatments for police dogs used for illicit drug detection. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1990 Vol 197 pp. 185-7.
5) Evans AG: Allergic inhalant dermatitis attributable to marijuana exposure in a dog. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1989 Vol 195 pp. 1588-90.
6) Nicholson SS: Toxicology. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Diseases of the Dog and Cat Philadelphia, WB Saunders 2000 pp. 357-363.
It would appear that marijuana is not all that toxic to dogs, and that the hepatotoxicity spoken about here is not demonstrated on necropsy.
As for alcohol, dogs livers do indeed process it similarly to humans - however their alcohol dehydrogenase is not as efficient as ours, hence the alcohol builds up in their system, and persists for longer periods of time.
** this was written by an internist, not by me; i merely stole it! (i'm a surgeon - i leave the medicine up to the real doctors)
THC is the substance in marijuana thatll get you, *high* , and if a dog smokes or cat trust from personal experience thy will not die............. end of story. They get stoned after a couple hits then go to sleep. So please stop being so harsh, relax a bit your just a bit uptight.
