Because marijuana toxicity can resemble the early stages of a life-threatening poisoning by garden chemicals or antifreeze, identifying the toxin quickly is critical. But due to pot's shaky legal status, many people are reluctant to admit that their pet is stoned, and most vets choose to skirt the issue rather than confront owners.
"The classic question is, 'Do you have teenagers?' " says Edward Haynes, a Mendocino County veterinarian who sees a spike in such cases during the fall pot harvesting months. "Then you say, 'Is it possible that the dog came in contact with any recreational drugs?' " he says.
Owning up to the truth
Even in cases where the owner admits that the dog was exposed to pot, many are still reluctant to take responsibility. Humble, who says he treats dozens of marijuana poisonings every year, says, "It's always a roommate's or the neighbor's. It's never theirs."
As was the case with Tank. His owner explained to Humble that his roommate had baked a tray of potent marijuana cookies, leaving a warning that consumption should be limited to a quarter of a cookie. Left alone, Tank gobbled the entire batch. And the baking soda? "The animal had the munchies," Humble says.
Jeffrey Smith, a vet at Middletown Animal Hospital in Middletown, Calif., says he engages in profiling to aid diagnosis. "The majority of these cases, they tend to be young people, sort of 'living life and loving it' types," he says. "They come in two or three at a time with one pet, kind of nervous and looking at each other."
Other vets employ a mild form of blackmail. In cases where marijuana poisoning is suspected but not owned up to, some vets explain that if a more innocuous poison cannot be identified, their pet will need a full treatment of intravenous fluids, a stomach pump and an enema -- costing the owner hundreds of dollars, not to mention a seriously bad trip for the dog. "About two-thirds of people, you have to kind of squeeze it out of them," says Smith.
Once marijuana poisoning has been established as the cause of the patient's distress, vets say the best approach is to monitor the dog's vital signs and wait. "Most of the time, they do fine if you just let them sleep it off, just like people," says Haynes.
Because of the importance of distinguishing marijuana toxicity from other poisonings, some vets call the 24-hour poison hotline run by the ASPCA Poison Control Center in Urbana, Ill. Since 1998 the center has consulted on about 600 cases of marijuana toxicity among animals from around the country, with New York and California leading the list.
