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Sixstringsmash

Where am I?
I figured this might be a good discussion to have here. I don't really have any scientific knowledge on the subject whatsoever but I thought about this the other day when my father came to visit me yesterday and he chastised me when he learned that I vaporize in the same room as the dog. Now this is something I really never gave a second thought about and now I'm wondering if there might be any negative effects to our animals breathing in the second hand vapor fumes when we exhale. What seems to be the general consensus on this subject here?
 
Now... this is total speculation so take it for what it's worth, lol. I think that general second hand vapor probably gets an animal a bit 'high'... but more so if you blow directly into their face. I have never noticed any negative effects for my dog who is 27 pounds. I wonder if by the time the vapor 'hits' his area down by the floor if the effects are diluted.

I cannot say the same for when he accidentally ingested abv. The poor thing was tripping balls....
 
Yeah I can safely say I've never blown vapor directly into my dogs face! As for the second hand vapor getting my dog a bit high.... At first I thought that sounded crazy, but then I just took a look over to my right to look at my dog and now I'm thinking yeah, I could believe it..... I mean just look at this stoned bastard



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I've often wondered about my cat. He always looks stoned, but that's just him.

My husband has to take regular drug tests because of his job. I used to worry about cannabis smoke in the air when I combusted. He never had a drug test that showed up any cannabis. Vapor would be even safer.

When my husband and I were first together we would blow cannabis in each other's mouth when we would take a draw.:hug: Good times. I miss being able to use cannabis with my husband. Some day when he retires.:cheers:
 
I've wondered about that, too.:thinker: Our Anabel (cat) often lies on the desk in front of the monitor while I vape at the computer. But she doesn't come or go in a way that seems related to whether or not I'm vaping...doesn't try to breathe the vapor or avoid it. And of course I never exhale toward her. Being a cat, she sleeps a lot. Doesn't seem affected, but can't know for sure.

My husband and I used to do that, too, @CarolKing. Good memories. I think the post-retirement/senior version of getting high together will involve 2 vaporizers and a lot less making out!:rofl:

Edit: Anabel hates camera flashes. Have SO many beautifully-focused portraits of her...with eyes shut.:shakehead:
 
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Our dog would get the right hump with me if I didn't let her in the room during a hot boxing session way back in the day. That was when we were smoking though.

She'd get a proper strop on and start clawing the door when a bunch of us were smoking up the room. I'd let her in, she'd look up at me whilst stomping past with a sort of 'FU' look and then go and flop in front of which ever friend had the spliff.

I suspect she loved the herb and it probably helped her with her arthritis. It certainly didn't seem to do her any harm, poor thing ended up seizing up due to arthritis, in the end parents had to have her put down, we never got over it, been no hound since.

If she were here today I'd feel a responsibility to share the stash.

*Disclaimer *
I'm not telling you to get your pets stoned, I'm merely recounting my experiences with my family dog.
 
Unless your room is filled with thick vapor, or smoke, your pets will be fine. Blow your vapor away from them and they'll never get any of it.

We've been rescuing terriers for 22 years, perpetually have three dogs in the house at any time, and despite my weed habit, none of the pups have suffered any damage from second-hand vapor or smoke.

Just don't blow it into your dog's face! (In my state they'll put you in jail for that....not weed, but animal cruelty.)
 
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Dog advocate sees benefits of cannabis products for pets

BEAR VALLEY SPRINGS, Calif. - Zach Skow, founder of Marley's Mutt Dog Rescue, is speaking out in favor of something often seen as controversial: cannabis.

But not just for humans: Skow is pushing for use on animals as well.

"What it comes down to is CBD oil and the application of cannabis products to my dog gave me four more months of wonderful time with my best friend," Skow said.

He was speaking about Marley, the namesake of his rescue. Marley was afflicted with bone cancer.

"We didn't have many options, doctors said he'll be dead in a month and you might want to consider euthanizing immediately to prevent him from being in pain," Skow said.

He began giving Marley CBD oil. The liquid can be put in a dog's food, or straight into their mouths. Marley lived four months longer than originally expected and began exhibiting traits that had left him.

According to Matt Terrill, director of Innovet Pet Products (the oil that Skow uses), the oil is "extracted from legal hemp plants which have been selectively bred to produce a lot of CBD and zero of the chemicals that get people high."

In other words, CBD oil does not traditionally contain THC, so dogs (or people) don't get high from it. Veterinarians, however, are unable to recommend products like CBD oil for pets.

"It's in the category of drugs of abuse," said Dr. Paul Ulrich, a vet at Bakersfield Veterinarian Hospital.

"Because it is a schedule one drug, we do not back any recommendations for use of medical marijuana for pets at this time," Ulrich said, also saying that his practice falls under federal jurisdiction and DEA rules.

That doesn't make it illegal to get from places like Innovet Pet Products, it just means that vets can't recommend them right now.


 
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA and PAINFUL PETS

Dr. Robert J. Silver DVM, MS, CVA

If you have a heart beat and can read, its likely you’ve seen mention of “pot for pets” or “medical marijuana for pets”, or something like that. Maybe your neighbor’s dog wasn’t doing so well, limping around, or has cancer, or epilepsy, and they gave their dog some cannabis, and its doing much better, or even miraculously better.

MEDICAL-MARIJUANA-300x169.png


Wonder what all this fuss is about?

With the current national movement to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in people, folks are seeing often amazing results for:

  • Babies with epilepsy that drugs can’t fix,
  • Or someone with cancer, who “beat that rap”
  • or perhaps they found relief from chronic pain.
It’s a natural extension that these benefits seen in humans would be extended to our four-legged family members. As a result, some people have tried to give their pets some of their own “stash”, often with disastrous results,
Screen-Shot-2017-06-07-at-2.30.30-PM-300x226.png
and their beloved pets had to make an unexpected trip to the Animal ER. At the same time, some have observed results that border on hard to believe, but, take it from me, these results for the most part are real.

I am an integrative veterinarian with 35 years of practice experience in Colorado. I was in practice in the year 2000 when Colorado passed its medical marijuana laws. This was after 4 other states, including California, Washington and Alaska had already passed their own state laws allowing the use of marijuana under the recommendation of a human physician trained in its medical applications. Some of the stories that I heard from my clients,
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for patients I had tried every possible remedy for and failed, were nothing short of incredible.

I’ll never forget “JoJo”, a ten year old male apricot-colored miniature poodle, who had been in a car accident 5 years ago, badly injured, who after that, could never jump on the couch on his own. I had tried acupuncture, herbal therapies, massage, and of course, the appropriate veterinary drugs to address this painful problem, with only a small amount of success. “JoJo’s parents had a medical marijuana card in Colorado and had found great relief for their own chronic pain issues.

They had been in the same car accident that JoJo had been in and suffered comparable injuries and also experienced chronic pain for the past 5 years. For them, and for JoJo, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) like carprofen for JoJo and Ibuprofen for them didn’t work very well. And the opiate drugs like tramadol for Jojo and oxycontin for them, worked at first, but over time their value diminished, and they found themselves getting addicted to the narcotics without getting much relief. They had to keep increasing the dosage, and the benefits did not increase.

JoJo’s parents had heard from friends about how medical marijuana had helped them, so they tried it and were amazed at their own results. That’s when they wondered if JoJo could also benefit from medical marijuana. So they shared some with him, but didn’t know how much to give, so they just gave a little. But poor little JoJo was pretty small, and that little bit was too much, and he started acting “weird”. His eyes glazed over, and he just stood there with his legs wide apart, and kind of rocked forward and backward, but couldn’t walk or move. He salivated a lot, and started whining like he was feeling pretty anxious.

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They’d gotten so worried and guilty about what they had done in giving their medical marijuana to JoJo that they called me that morning, and I had them bring him in. By the time they’d gotten to my clinic, JoJo’s symptoms were lessening, but he still was not a happy camper. We hooked him up to an IV and gave him a little sedative, and let him sleep off his bad experience with medical marijuana the rest of that day. When he had recovered from this episode, and his parents felt so bad that they had done this to him, JoJo was actually feeling a LOT better. So better that he jumped up into his parents arms when they came to get him that afternoon. (Jumping was something JoJo hadn’t done in 5 years, since the accident.)

This experience got me wondering why this herb could cause so much trouble, but at the same time help with this poor dog’s pain. One of my great interests is how herbs can help animals. I am an herbalist and an integrative veterinarian, and in fact, am currently president of the Veterinary Botanical Medical Association (www.VBMA.org ). I’m also a bit of an information nerd, and so the first thing I did when I had some time was to learn as much as I could from research studies about medical marijuana, and why it seemed to affect dogs differently than people.

What I learned amazed me. I found that the dog has more “receptors” in its brain for the compound in marijuana that gets people stoned, THC, and that those receptors are located in the part of the brain that controls balance. Receptors are like locks that are located on the outside of each cell in the body. When the right substance bonds to these receptors, or, like a key in a lock, they turn on some activity in the cell.

I also learned that if dogs are given tiny little doses of THC first, they will develop tolerance over time, and you can give them higher doses that will help them overcome pain or other problems that we know medical marijuana can address, like epilepsy, anxiety, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, glaucoma and even cancer. But finding that safe low starting dosage is not always easy, and many people live in states that still don’t have medical marijuana laws on the books.

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The next thing I learned changed how I would think about medical marijuana for pets forever:

I learned that marijuana and hemp are basically the same plants, Cannabis sativa L, but that hemp, by law contains super low amounts of THC. So low that it’s not enough to get anyone high, even a dog. At the same time, hemp can have higher levels of the medicinally active oils, such as CBD, CBG and CBC than medical marijuana, and it could provide almost identical benefits as medical marijuana without risking accidental overdoses or legal ramifications. THC is good for severe pain, and for certain types of cancer, but CBD, CBG and CBC, and other similar molecules in the hemp plant work really well for many types of pain, and can even reduce some types of tumors.

I wanted to share this information with pet owners so dogs would stop being rushed to the Animal ER from accidental poisonings from THC, so I wrote a book (www.potforpets.info ), and created an on-line course (http://greenflowermedia.ontraport.net/t?orid=8185&opid=86. ), and have a blog (www.nurseyourpet.com ) where people can learn about this without having to buy the book or take the course, unless they want much more detailed information. This column also is my opportunity to educate pet parents about the benefits and some of the risks of using medical marijuana or medical hemp for their pets’ problems.

Each column will discuss a different aspect of medical marijuana and pets. If you have specific questions, please ask them here, and I will address them in a future article, or in the comments section.

Stay tuned for future columns with even more great information that can help your pets.

Dr. Robert J. Silver DVM, MS, CVA

info@NurseYourPet.com

www.NurseYourPet.com

www.WellpetDispensary.com

www.PotforPets.info

Spread the word about the benefits of CBD for dogs!


 
Pot for pets: Owners treating sick animals with cannabis

Michael Fasman’s 12-year-old dog, Hudson, limps from pain caused by arthritis and an amputated toe, but Fasman doesn’t want to give her painkillers because “they just knock her out.”

So the San Francisco resident has turned to an alternative medicine that many humans use to treat their own pain and illness: marijuana.

On a recent morning, Fasman squeezed several drops of a cannabis extract onto a plate of yogurt, which the Portuguese water dog lapped up in seconds. It’s become part of Hudson’s daily routine.

“We think it’s really lifted her spirits and made her a happier dog,” Fasman said. “It’s not that she’s changed. She’s just back to her good old self.”

As more states legalize marijuana for humans, more pet owners are giving their furry companions cannabis-based extracts, ointments and edibles marketed to treat everything from arthritis and anxiety to seizures and cancer.

Most of these pet products, which aren’t regulated, contain cannabidiol or CBD, a chemical compound found in cannabis that doesn’t get pets or humans high. They contain little or no tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the cannabis compound known for its psychoactive effects.

But veterinarians say there isn’t enough scientific data to show cannabis is safe and effective for treating animals. Although medical marijuana is legal in 28 states, it remains illegal under federal law, so there has been relatively little research into its potential medical benefits for humans or animals.

Veterinarians in California and other states are legally barred from prescribing or recommending cannabis. They risk losing their veterinary licenses if they do.

“Our hands really are tied,” said Ken Pawlowski, president of the California Veterinary Medical Association. “Definitely we’re getting more questions from clients asking about it for their pets, but unfortunately we don’t have any answers for them.”

Karl Jandrey, a veterinarian who teaches at the University of California, Davis, said he tells his clients they “use them at their own risk with the potential to spend money for no improvement, or a risk of adverse side effects.”

Despite the lack of scientific data or veterinary guidance, many pet owners are convinced cannabis has improved their animals’ health and well-being, based on their own observations.

Lynne Tingle, who runs a pet adoption centre and animal sanctuary, regularly gives cannabis edibles and topical ointments to older dogs with health or behaviour issues, including her own elderly dogs Chorizo and Alice.

“You just see a real difference in their spirit. They’re just not in pain, so they’re happier and they’re moving better,” said Tingle, who founded the Richmond-based Milo Foundation. “They just get a new lease on life.”

San Francisco-based TreatWell Health is one of a growing number of companies marketing cannabis products for pets despite questions over their legality.

TreatWell sells cannabis tinctures — extracted from marijuana plants in Humboldt County — that can be added to food or dropped directly into an animal’s mouth. Co-founder Alison Ettel works directly with clients and their pets, recommending different formulations based on the animals’ ailments.

TreatWell pet tinctures can help treat anxiety, poor appetite, pain, inflammation and seizures, as well as kidney and liver problems, cancer and glaucoma, according to its website. They also are used in end-of-life care.

“What we find is a lot of the animals are coming to us when there are no other options and pharmaceuticals haven’t worked for that animal,” Ettel said. “They’re at that last resort, and cannabis is really good for those types of situations.”

Barbara Stein is one of TreatWell’s most enthusiastic customers. She said the cannabis tinctures helped treat anxiety and digestive problems in her 13-year-old cat, Willie. And she believes the drug helped Willie’s sister Prudence maintain her weight and stay comfortable when she was battling cancer.

Stein, a retiree who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Concord, said she got a medical marijuana card so she could buy cannabis for her cats. She has since recommended cannabis to many friends with aging and sick pets.

“All I know is that none of the traditional medications she got from the vet worked, but the cannabis did,” Stein said. “I swear by the stuff.”
 
CLAWS AND EFFECT: CANNABIS MEDICINE FOR PETS

An interview with Gary Richter, DVM

Any animal with a backbone (classified as a chordate) has an endocannabinoid system. The Kingdom of Chordata includes amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, and mammals, including house pets. Many animal-owners treat their beloved pets like family members. When a dog or a cat gets sick and conventional options don’t work, people seek alternatives. In the realm of natural healing, cannabis for animals seems like a logical botanical pathway to explore.

When it comes to CBD, or cannabis in general, little research has been done on cats and dogs. Are cannabis preparations safe for use in animals? Does marijuana affect pets the same way as humans? Many pet-owners are looking for something to support their animal’s health, but there is little quality control with respect to the numerous pet-focused CBD products that are available in the medical marijuana sector and the hemp CBD grey market. And there aren’t many trusted, educated individuals who can provide professional guidance on cannabinoid therapies for pets.

To help pet-owners become better informed about the use of cannabis for their four-legged companions, Sarah Russo of Project CBD spoke with Gary Richter, DVM, an integrative medicine veterinarian based in Oakland, California. Richter considers cannabis to be part of a holistic approach to animal medicine. Due to marijuana’s proscribed Schedule I status, veterinarians are not allowed to write letters of recommendation for their clients or tell them where to obtain cannabis medicine. But Richter is able to speak about the benefits of CBD and cannabis therapeutics for pets.

Project CBD: Can you tell us about your work? Based on what you’ve seen in your practice, what types of conditions may cannabis medicine alleviate in pets?

Richter: My practice applies western, complementary, and alternative approaches. That could include acupuncture, chiropractic, Chinese and western herbs, nutritional supplementation, and more. Animals can benefit from medical cannabis for many of the same reasons it helps people—for pain, seizure control, gastrointestinal disorders, anxiety-related issues. We‘ve also seen positive results with cancer.

Project CBD: Why is there a lack of research studies on cannabis in dogs and cats? What areas of cannabinoid medicine in animals would you like to see investigated more deeply?

Richter: I think ultimately the reason for the lack of therapeutic-oriented research is because cannabis is federally illegal and there’s no funding. Generally, it’s pharmaceutical companies that are putting most of the money into medical research. Once there’s a legal pathway and money to be made in veterinary products, that research will happen. I would like to see more general research on the use of cannabis in animals, focusing on some of the ailments that it seems be the most effective for—especially gastrointestinal issues, pain, and inflammation. Many veterinary patients see dramatic effects with cannabis for these ailments. Cancer studies would be a much longer road and more challenging to put together.

Project CBD: What is your response when veterinarians say: “There isn’t enough scientific data to show cannabis is safe and effective for treating animals.”

Richter: In a perfect world, we would benefit from more scientific information. However, the case reports and anecdotal evidence about the efficacy of cannabis medicine are already overwhelming. In veterinary medicine, practitioners typically have no problem using off-label medications—those not explicitly approved for use in dogs or cats. But mention medical cannabis, which has a mountain of evidence for efficacy in humans, and they suddenly say, “You can’t do that, there’s been no research on dogs!” It’s disingenuous.

Project CBD: Is there a difference between the endocannabinoid system in a dog or a cat as compared to a human?

Richter: In the big picture, they’re very similar. One striking difference is there appears to be a greater concentration of cannabinoid receptors in the dog’s brain than there are in most other animals. This is significant because it makes dogs more susceptible to THC overdose, potentially giving them a certain amount of neurologic impairment in the short-term. This phenomenon is known as static ataxia. Otherwise, when cannabis medicine is used effectively, their endocannabinoid system will act in the same way it would for a human.

Project CBD: Is THC combined with CBD beneficial for pets? If so, what CBD:THC ratios do you suggest for your clients?

Richter: It depends on both the condition that’s being treated as well as the individual animal. Many people in the cannabis community have heard about the entourage effect. The ratio of THC to CBD is an important part of that. There are conditions that respond better to medicine with a certain amount of THCin it. The ratios that I have used include hemp-based CBD with very little THC, as well as CBD-rich marijuana with a 20:1 CBD:THC ratio and THC-dominant medicine with little CBD. The research suggests that patients with cancer and chronic pain benefit from products that have CBD and THC, rather than CBDalone. It really depends.

Project CBD: Do you see animals coming into the veterinary hospital after having too much THC? How much of a problem is that?

Richter: Obviously whenever we’re talking about THC and pets, dosing becomes very important. At no point is the goal for the pet to get stoned. If that happens, then it means they’ve gotten too much. The aim is to give them enough cannabis to be effective, but not so much that they’re going to be negatively compromised. It is extremely uncommon to see an animal show negative signs when they have been properly dosed with cannabis as medicine. The worst effect would be drowsiness. If that’s that case, the owner may have to decrease the dose. It’s not uncommon for a dog, or sometimes a cat, to show up at a veterinary hospital having eaten a cannabis-infused edible that belonged to the owner. The good news is that cannabis toxicity is nonfatal and does not cause long-term effects. However, those animals that get into their owner’s stash may require immediate medical care. I have seen and heard of a couple of cases where pets did not survive.

Project CBD: But you just said that cannabis toxicity in nonfatal. You’ve seen cases where an animal ate too much cannabis and actually died?

Richter: One case that I have personally seen was a dog that got into a bunch of cannabis edibles and the owner didn’t bring his dog to the veterinarian immediately. They called us the following day. Unfortunately, the dog had vomited and aspirated while at home, his lungs filled with fluid, and he wound up dying from a systemic infection related to that. To be honest, if this dog had received medical treatment the day he ate cannabis, he almost certainly would have been fine. It was only because the owner waited, and by that time it was too late. It was very sad. But this type of event is really quite rare.

Project CBD: What’s your preferred way to administer cannabis medicine to animals?

Richter: I prefer a liquid preparation, usually an oil. With liquids, it’s very easy to adjust the dosage. If you’re giving something like a pill or an edible, it can be difficult to figure out how to titrate the right amount. Furthermore, there’s every reason to believe that CBD and THC are going to be partially absorbed directly into the bloodstream through the tissues of the mouth, sublingually. If we put a liquid in an animal’s mouth, some of the medication will be absorbed directly and has a chance to be more effective.

Project CBD: A lot of people say they want to start giving cannabis or CBD medicine to their pet, but they’re not quite sure about the right dose. Is there a good way to calculate the ideal amount for your animal?

Richter: There’s a dosing range that you could start at. It’s best to begin at the low end. Every few days, slowly increase the dose. If you’ve achieved the desired effect for whatever is being treated, then you’re probably done. Just like people, animals will develop a tolerance for the psychoactive effects of the THC. Over time they will be able to take more medicine without any demonstrable side effects. Medical cannabis is not the answer for all pets. Some animals do better on it than others, just like people.

Project CBD: In general, how knowledgeable are veterinarians about cannabis therapeutics?

Richter: This is a big problem—the lack of education. The California Veterinary Medical Board is very much against the use of medical cannabis for pets. They don’t want veterinarians speaking with pet owners about it at all, except to say that it is bad and not to use it.

Project CBD: What is the legal status of CBD as a medicine for animals?

Richter: Cannabis is federally illegal across the board, including CBD from hemp. Even in California, a trailblazing medical marijuana state, as a veterinarian I’m not able to provide people with a medical marijuana recommendation for their pet. Nor am I able to provide them with cannabis products. But I can talk with people about how medical cannabis might benefit their animals. Unless something dramatic changes on the legal front, there’s still going to be access problems for people looking to get medicinal cannabis for their pets.

Project CBD: Any words of advice for someone who wants to treat their pet with cannabis or CBD?

Richter: If at all possible talk to a veterinarian. Cannabis is medicine and its dosing should be carefully calculated. It’s important to know the concentration of THC and CBD in milligrams for one’s pet. Once you have that information, you can look for a product that suits your pet’s needs. When in doubt, err on the side of under-dosing because you can always slowly increase the dose and monitor the effect. And make sure the medicine is free of mold, pesticides, and other contaminants.

Project CBD: There are many hemp-based CBD products on the market for pets. How do you feel about the quality of these products in general? What are your thoughts about hemp-derived CBD?

Richter: I don’t want to disparage hemp-based CBD products because I think they do have a positive medical effect. Many people start with hemp products because of their relative ease of accessibility. But in many cases, we don’t know the source of the CBD in these products. I recommend that people do their due diligence as they should with any vitamin or supplement. Call the company and ask where the product is coming from and how it’s being produced. There is no government oversight to make sure that these companies are selling authentic and safe products. A pet owner’s only other option is to get a card and go to a medical marijuana dispensary if they want something that may be more effective than hemp-derived CBD. Ideally, you would look for a product that is organic and produced locally. You want to know how the CBD was extracted and the full spectrum of cannabinoids that are present.

Project CBD: Are there any guidelines or recommendations you have for people who want to make their own cannabis preparations for their pets?

Richter: That’s tricky. You won’t know the concentration of cannabinoids in what you make at home, unless you have it analyzed. If you do use your own preparation, start with extremely minute dosing and slowly work your way up. You’d much rather under-dose than overdose.

Project CBD: Sometimes people who don’t have medical complaints like to take cannabis as preventative medicine to maintain good health and well-being. Would you recommend something like that for an animal?

Richter: That’s an excellent question I have often asked myself. The purpose of the endocannabinoid system is to maintain homeostasis within the body. It’s logical to consider using cannabis as preventative medicine much in the same way that a person would take a multivitamin. If that’s the case, I would consider keeping the dosage toward the very low end. We need to see more research on the use of cannabis as preventative medicine in people as well as animals.

Project CBD: Are there any resources for people to educate themselves about cannabis medicine for pets or to find a cannabis friendly veterinarian in their area?

Richter: Firstly, I would say talk to your regular veterinarian about cannabis. Even if they can’t give you the information, they may know someone in the area that can. Additionally, there is a national organization called the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA). It isn’t a given that a member of the AHVMA incorporates medical cannabis into their practice, but most people who are open to it are also holistically minded. That would be a good place to find a veterinarian and to begin a conversation. For resources, a colleague of mine and I taught an online course for Greenflower Media. The class provides a comprehensive description of how medical cannabis works in pets, ways to dose, and how to find a good product. And I have a book coming out later this year. It’s called Integrative Health Care for Dogs and Cats. It has a whole section on medical cannabis, with dosing guidelines. A colleague of mine, Rob Silver, released a book last year called Medical Marijuana and Your Pet.

Project CBD: Thank you for your time and information.

Take-Home Message: If you decide to give your pet cannabis medicine, get informed. The medicine you give your animal should have the same standards for anything you would put in your own body. Make sure the product is safe and tested for cannabinoid content, quality, and is free from any contaminants or additives. Seek guidance from a vet, if at all possible. Start your furry friend off on a low dose of cannabis medicine. And monitor the effects that cannabis has on their experience because, as George Eliot wrote, “Animals are such agreeable friends―they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.”—Project CBD
 
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Its been a sad week for me...

My beloved ferret charlie has cancer...
And its too bad to treat...
Charlie is 10 years old..

bWXMD4R.jpg


I have moved her out of the ferret house, into a small retirement house...
She cant move to easy now, so was struggling to navigate the ladders in the the big house...

Iv started giving her cannabis...
Why not eh, she is near the end...
And it clearly makes her feel better, she is almost active for a bit after dosing...
And it seems to be making her eat more too, so that will help...

She will get lots of cuddles until the end...
 
@Kellya86 I am so sorry..... what a sweet little guy. It's never easy when our beloved friends near the end. I'm glad that the cannabis is helping.

On that note, my dog is going to undergo ACL surgery this week. I picked up some CBD treats at the dispensary for him. I figure it's a good alternative or supplement to the narcotics that he'll be taking at the beginning. I'm thinking of going back and getting the tincture after reading the article I posted today. I know he'll need the narcs to start (having had a similar surgery myself lol) but I'd like to wean him off as quickly as possible.
 
@Kellya86 I am so sorry..... what a sweet little guy. It's never easy when our beloved friends near the end. I'm glad that the cannabis is helping.

On that note, my dog is going to undergo ACL surgery this week. I picked up some CBD treats at the dispensary for him. I figure it's a good alternative or supplement to the narcotics that he'll be taking at the beginning. I'm thinking of going back and getting the tincture after reading the article I posted today. I know he'll need the narcs to start (having had a similar surgery myself lol) but I'd like to wean him off as quickly as possible.

Charlie got rapidly worse after the other day, she has just passed now.
10 years is a long time, she was older than my children.
It was peaceful.
Im more upset than i expected.
She was more than just a ferret, she was my only companion for a long time.
im glad she didnt suffer too long.
 
Charlie got rapidly worse after the other day, she has just passed now.
10 years is a long time, she was older than my children.
It was peaceful.
Im more upset than i expected.
She was more than just a ferret, she was my only companion for a long time.
im glad she didnt suffer too long.


:ugh: Wow... that was fast. But there is something to be said about passing quickly from cancer; or any other fatal disease. I'd rather go quickly myself than linger on.... So that is a bit of a blessing although unexpected.

And off course you're upset. You've lost a dear companion. But you can know in your heart that you did what you could to lessen the pain and anxiety of illness. You were a dear friend in return. :heart:
 
MEDICAL MARIJUANA and PAINFUL PETS

Dr. Robert J. Silver DVM, MS, CVA

If you have a heart beat and can read, its likely you’ve seen mention of “pot for pets” or “medical marijuana for pets”, or something like that. Maybe your neighbor’s dog wasn’t doing so well, limping around, or has cancer, or epilepsy, and they gave their dog some cannabis, and its doing much better, or even miraculously better.

MEDICAL-MARIJUANA-300x169.png


Wonder what all this fuss is about?

With the current national movement to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in people, folks are seeing often amazing results for:

  • Babies with epilepsy that drugs can’t fix,
  • Or someone with cancer, who “beat that rap”
  • or perhaps they found relief from chronic pain.
It’s a natural extension that these benefits seen in humans would be extended to our four-legged family members. As a result, some people have tried to give their pets some of their own “stash”, often with disastrous results,
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and their beloved pets had to make an unexpected trip to the Animal ER. At the same time, some have observed results that border on hard to believe, but, take it from me, these results for the most part are real.

I am an integrative veterinarian with 35 years of practice experience in Colorado. I was in practice in the year 2000 when Colorado passed its medical marijuana laws. This was after 4 other states, including California, Washington and Alaska had already passed their own state laws allowing the use of marijuana under the recommendation of a human physician trained in its medical applications. Some of the stories that I heard from my clients,
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for patients I had tried every possible remedy for and failed, were nothing short of incredible.

I’ll never forget “JoJo”, a ten year old male apricot-colored miniature poodle, who had been in a car accident 5 years ago, badly injured, who after that, could never jump on the couch on his own. I had tried acupuncture, herbal therapies, massage, and of course, the appropriate veterinary drugs to address this painful problem, with only a small amount of success. “JoJo’s parents had a medical marijuana card in Colorado and had found great relief for their own chronic pain issues.

They had been in the same car accident that JoJo had been in and suffered comparable injuries and also experienced chronic pain for the past 5 years. For them, and for JoJo, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) like carprofen for JoJo and Ibuprofen for them didn’t work very well. And the opiate drugs like tramadol for Jojo and oxycontin for them, worked at first, but over time their value diminished, and they found themselves getting addicted to the narcotics without getting much relief. They had to keep increasing the dosage, and the benefits did not increase.

JoJo’s parents had heard from friends about how medical marijuana had helped them, so they tried it and were amazed at their own results. That’s when they wondered if JoJo could also benefit from medical marijuana. So they shared some with him, but didn’t know how much to give, so they just gave a little. But poor little JoJo was pretty small, and that little bit was too much, and he started acting “weird”. His eyes glazed over, and he just stood there with his legs wide apart, and kind of rocked forward and backward, but couldn’t walk or move. He salivated a lot, and started whining like he was feeling pretty anxious.

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They’d gotten so worried and guilty about what they had done in giving their medical marijuana to JoJo that they called me that morning, and I had them bring him in. By the time they’d gotten to my clinic, JoJo’s symptoms were lessening, but he still was not a happy camper. We hooked him up to an IV and gave him a little sedative, and let him sleep off his bad experience with medical marijuana the rest of that day. When he had recovered from this episode, and his parents felt so bad that they had done this to him, JoJo was actually feeling a LOT better. So better that he jumped up into his parents arms when they came to get him that afternoon. (Jumping was something JoJo hadn’t done in 5 years, since the accident.)

This experience got me wondering why this herb could cause so much trouble, but at the same time help with this poor dog’s pain. One of my great interests is how herbs can help animals. I am an herbalist and an integrative veterinarian, and in fact, am currently president of the Veterinary Botanical Medical Association (www.VBMA.org ). I’m also a bit of an information nerd, and so the first thing I did when I had some time was to learn as much as I could from research studies about medical marijuana, and why it seemed to affect dogs differently than people.

What I learned amazed me. I found that the dog has more “receptors” in its brain for the compound in marijuana that gets people stoned, THC, and that those receptors are located in the part of the brain that controls balance. Receptors are like locks that are located on the outside of each cell in the body. When the right substance bonds to these receptors, or, like a key in a lock, they turn on some activity in the cell.

I also learned that if dogs are given tiny little doses of THC first, they will develop tolerance over time, and you can give them higher doses that will help them overcome pain or other problems that we know medical marijuana can address, like epilepsy, anxiety, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, glaucoma and even cancer. But finding that safe low starting dosage is not always easy, and many people live in states that still don’t have medical marijuana laws on the books.

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The next thing I learned changed how I would think about medical marijuana for pets forever:

I learned that marijuana and hemp are basically the same plants, Cannabis sativa L, but that hemp, by law contains super low amounts of THC. So low that it’s not enough to get anyone high, even a dog. At the same time, hemp can have higher levels of the medicinally active oils, such as CBD, CBG and CBC than medical marijuana, and it could provide almost identical benefits as medical marijuana without risking accidental overdoses or legal ramifications. THC is good for severe pain, and for certain types of cancer, but CBD, CBG and CBC, and other similar molecules in the hemp plant work really well for many types of pain, and can even reduce some types of tumors.

I wanted to share this information with pet owners so dogs would stop being rushed to the Animal ER from accidental poisonings from THC, so I wrote a book (www.potforpets.info ), and created an on-line course (http://greenflowermedia.ontraport.net/t?orid=8185&opid=86. ), and have a blog (www.nurseyourpet.com ) where people can learn about this without having to buy the book or take the course, unless they want much more detailed information. This column also is my opportunity to educate pet parents about the benefits and some of the risks of using medical marijuana or medical hemp for their pets’ problems.

Each column will discuss a different aspect of medical marijuana and pets. If you have specific questions, please ask them here, and I will address them in a future article, or in the comments section.

Stay tuned for future columns with even more great information that can help your pets.

Dr. Robert J. Silver DVM, MS, CVA

info@NurseYourPet.com

www.NurseYourPet.com

www.WellpetDispensary.com

www.PotforPets.info

Spread the word about the benefits of CBD for dogs!


I want some of what they gave ol' Jojo. Sounds like fire. LOL
 
Its been a sad week for me...

My beloved ferret charlie has cancer...
And its too bad to treat...
Charlie is 10 years old..

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I have moved her out of the ferret house, into a small retirement house...
She cant move to easy now, so was struggling to navigate the ladders in the the big house...

Iv started giving her cannabis...
Why not eh, she is near the end...
And it clearly makes her feel better, she is almost active for a bit after dosing...
And it seems to be making her eat more too, so that will help...

She will get lots of cuddles until the end...
Aw, I'm so sorry. Ferrets are great pets...a friend had one. Smart and cute. Good for you with the palliative MJ treatment but I am sorry you lost your friend so quickly (but I rather agree with Mom....I would rather drop like a sack of rocks than linger a long cancer death).

Best of luck to you. You going to get another ferret?
 
I want some of what they gave ol' Jojo. Sounds like fire. LOL
Lol... I can understand the sentiment. But if you've ever seen a dog that's gotten into some stash you might not feel that way. It's an awful thing for them. They're white knuckling with 4 paws...... And it doesn't take much. My dog, at about 28 pounds, ate the equivalent of a pinner joint's worth of abv and was tripping balls.
 

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