High Crimes & Parrot Health: Implications Of Loosening Marijuana Restrictions For You & Your Bird
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There are several legal and ethical issues bird owners should consider as many U.S. states move to legalize or decriminalize medical and recreational marijuana use
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The increase in availability of legal marijuana has legal, health and medical implications for pet birds and their owners.
Although there is not yet extensive research available on the specific effects of marijuana smoke on pet birds, Veterinarian Cassee Terry of Redmond, Oregon cautions that the effects could be severe. "Birds are much more sensitive to smoke inhalation toxicity than other animals,” she explained. Generally, Terry observed, "lung toxicities are more severe,” in birds.
There are several reasons for this. Birds have very efficient respiratory systems, which means that with each breath, birds extract much more air particulates than humans. In addition, birds breathe at an increased rate compared to humans, so airborne toxins such as smoke will have an increased impact on birds. Bird anatomy also plays a role.
In addition to their lungs, "birds have a system of air sacs,” explained Megan Jones, a researcher in bird behavior at Florida State University, "so when they inhale, the air goes first into the posterior air sacs, then into the lungs when they exhale.”
But that breath remains in the bird, Jones explained, for yet another breath. The air travels "then through the lungs to the anterior air sacs on the second inhale, and is exhaled out of the body on the second exhale.”
Exposure to second-hand smoke of any kind, even from kitchens, can have negative health consequences for pet birds. Repeated exposure can cause skin and eye irritation and infection, respiratory infections and chronic respiratory disease. Birds can develop symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, sinus and eye infections, and these may lead to secondary bacterial infections which may even be fatal.
How Marijuana Can Affect Pet Birds
Peer-reviewed studies have not yet been published on the effects of so-called "edibles,” or edible products infused with THC oil, on birds. However, a recent study on songbirds at Oregon Health Science University demonstrates that alcohol affects birds, which metabolize it differently than humans but experience similar "drunken” effects. You can hear from the recordings of drunken zebra finches in this story by National Public Radio, that alcohol affected the birds’ singing in the same way it slurs human speech.
Because all species of animals process different chemicals differently, don’t assume that you can accurately determine how much of a cannabis edible product a bird could safely ingest based merely on its weight as compared to your own. In addition, effects such as distortions of balance and the senses, which humans might experience as a pleasurable "buzz” can be uncomfortable, disorienting and even frightening for animals. Terry cautioned, that in general, "The effects last longer when ingested than smoked, in birds and other species.” Therefore, even if a small amount of edible marijuana did not prove fatal or cause illness, a bird could experience any unsettling effects for longer if exposed to an edible product.
Some ingestion of marijuana by pets occurs by accident, through exposure to second-hand smoke, or when a pet raids its owner’s unattended stash of marijuana or edible products. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical care found the number of marijuana poisoning cases in dogs at two Colorado veterinary hospitals quadrupled in five years following the legalization of medical marijuana. This increase, though shocking, covered the period before Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. Veterinarians generally encourage pet owners to honestly report whatever substance the pet has ingested in order to render the proper treatment and save the animal’s life.
The Legal Ramifications For Exposing Your Pet Bird To Marijuana
Warning: Several of the following links reference news items that discuss animal cruelty cases, as well as a video of a bird having marijuana blown in its face.
Although there are some reports of pet owners attempting to treat their pet’s diseases with marijuana, many anecdotal reports of bird exposure to marijuana appear to result from the owner’s own use when their diminished judgment leads them, or their friends, to feed marijuana or its by-products (such as bong-water) to pets or blow smoke in their faces to see their response.
Before intentionally administering marijuana to your bird, either medicinally or in fun, you should be aware that there could be legal consequences for you. Intentionally subjecting your pet to the effects of marijuana could be viewed as animal abuse or cruelty in some states. Twenty-nine states have laws either requiring or permitting veterinarians to report animal neglect, cruelty, or abuse to authorities.
Although there are numerous examples on social media of people intentionally getting their birds high, some people who intentionally expose their pets to this drug are prosecuted. You should make yourself aware of criminal drug laws and animal abuse and cruelty laws in your state. As you could be held legally responsible for actions that are seen by authorities as animal cruelty or abuse, you should make it clear to your friends that any acts which might be illegal or harmful to your bird’s health are unacceptable.
To reduce the temptation for your friends to do something irresponsible, you should keep your bird in a separate room, away from potentially toxic fumes, in an area not connected by shared ventilation systems. If your bird does inhale smoke or consume marijuana products and becomes ill, taking prompt action to save her, like bringing her to a vet, could still be seen as a mitigating factor in your favor.
Even in states where medical marijuana is approved for human use, veterinarians are not permitted to prescribe it for animals. According to an article on the American Veterinary Medical Association website, which explores the medical marijuana debate in veterinary circles, "Physicians in states where medical marijuana is sanctioned are exempt from prosecution by the state for recommending the schedule I drug to patients. Such protections do not apply to veterinarians, for whom it is illegal in every state to prescribe or recommend marijuana to treat a patient.”
Some people are nonetheless using marijuana, usually in edible form, to treat chronic pain and illness in their pets. However, due to the lack of available medical research, dosage and administration is often a matter of guesswork. For bird owners, in addition to moral and ethical considerations, there may be criminal consequences for administering marijuana to your bird.
How Marijuana Use Impacts Birds In The Wild
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Beyond the consequences for pet parrots within the United States, marijuana legalization stands to impact parrots in other parts of the world as well. As US states have begun to legalize it, Latin American nations have started to question the necessity of combatting marijuana cultivation and consumption within their own borders. At a 2010 summit on the issue, leaders from Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panamá, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos issued a declaration stating that the United States "cannot support the criminalization of these activities in this or that country and, at the same time, [support] the open or veiled legalization of the production and consumption of drugs in its own territories.”
Latin American countries such as Colombia are home to thousands of bird species and act as host to thousands more migratory birds throughout the year. Although increased recreational use and legal cultivation in Alaska, Colorado, Washington and Oregon will not have a significant impact on wild parrot species, legalization in tropical habitats would have more far-reaching effects.
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http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-health/high-crimes-implications-of-loosening-marijuana-restrictions-for-you-and-your-bird.aspx
Horses & (Medical) Marijuana > HORSE NATION (10/09/2013)
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... I pass The Farm, one of the many pot shops, er, medical dispensaries ... One thought on “ Horses & (Medical) Marijuana ... If it ever catches on for animals, ...
Did you know that cannabis was once used to treat equine ailments? HN's resident Colorado girl Shara Rutberg investigates.
From Shara:
On my way to the barn, I pass The Farm, one of the many pot shops, er, medical dispensaries here in Boulder, Colorado, where we voted to legalize recreational pot and where an advocacy group literally handed out joints on a popular pedestrian mall a few weeks back. Down in Denver, there are more pot shops than Starbucks. And many have names like The Farm, and The Dandelion, that sound alluring to equines.
Might this just be the ideal thing to take the edge off my brave steed, who has done airs above the ground in response to jump decorations 200 yards away across the cross country course? Would a handful of Mary Jane in the alfalfa make the pony peaceful with pumpkins (dear god!) on the jumps?
Would it garner points for relaxation at the canter? Could I clip the beast without a vet if he nibbles a few kind cookies before I warm up the Wahls?
People have been using cannabis to help horses for ages. The ancient Greeks used it for colic and wound care. The U.S. government supplied cannabis as part of the standard first aid kit to cavalry troopers who also did vet duty in the field. A cavalry manual recommends it for “spasmodic colic and other intestinal troubles.”
The American Veterinary Medical Association recently invited members to join a conversation about veterinary medical marijuana in their newsletter. The story includes the case of Phoenix, a 20-year-old Paso Fino with degenerative ligament disease.
Becky Flowers, her owner, had tired Phenylbutazone, glucosamine, Cavallo boots, cold and warm wraps to no avail. When Phoenix lay on her side and stopped eating and drinking, she fed the horse marijuana she'd been prescribed herself for pain.
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http://www.horsenation.com/2013/10/09/horses-medical-marijuana/
Pros And Cons: Medical Marijuana Pot Weed For Animals, Pets ...
Is Cannabis For Canines? (05/08/2013)
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Most Americans are pro-pot, and a whopping 65 percent of young people support the legalization of the substance. Just last year, voters passed referendums legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Washington and Colorado. In fact, Maryland is the newest state to have just passed the legalization of a hospital-based marijuana program.
Many do not deny that there are certain benefits marijuana can provide when treating illnesses like cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions, yet others believe that the drug is completely unnecessary, highly addictive, and way too dangerous.
With marijuana use on the rise with humans, veterinarians are seeing a spike in dogs being treated for being high on cannabis. Dr. Stacy Meola, a veterinarian in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, helped organize a study that shows the number of dogs that become ill due to the substance has quadrupled in Colorado since the legalization of medical marijuana.
FARM ANIMALS; LIFE WITH PETS; ... Global Animal Foundation 501
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http://www.globalanimal.org/2013/05/08/is-cannabis-for-canines/
Medical Use of Marihuana in general
Cannabis is medicine and has
been so since mans ancestors first encountered it. (INFO)
Archeology tells us more about the history of
this fascinating and versatile plant every day.
Educate yourself and others on the issues surrounding it and its utilization.
Medical Marijuana Pro/Con
(INFO)
Pros & cons on medical marijuana. Science, risks, policies, & laws. This site presents in a simple,
nonpartisan pro-con format, responses to the core question "Should marijuana be a medical option
now?" We have divided questions about the topic into the issues and sub-issues listed below. All
individuals and organizations quoted on our site are ranked based upon our unique credibility
scale. [Note: Although physicians and attorneys are listed on this site, we do not
recommend or refer either.] Visit:
www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/
INFO - Fact Sheets On Medical Marijuana, by The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). DPA is
the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the war on drugs. On July 1,
2000, The Lindesmith Center merged with the Drug Policy Foundation to form the Alliance. Created
in 1994, The Lindesmith Center was the first U.S. project of the Open Society Institute and the
leading independent drug policy reform institute in the United States. The Drug Policy Foundation,
founded in 1987, was the principal membership-based drug policy reform organization in the U.S.
The Drug Policy Alliance now has offices in four states and Washington, D.C., and claims more than
25,000 members. Visit:
www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/index.cfm?keywordID=925
SIMM (Stichting Institute of Medical Marijuana) was launched in The Netherlands in
1993. SIMM offers the highest quality of organically-grown medical cannabis on the market
today. Since 1993, they have provided superior cannabis to patients, physicians, pharmacists
and researchers. Their Mission is to make medical cannabis a normal herbal medicine, a
medicine that is prescribed by doctors and obtained at the pharmacies and paid for by insurance
companies. Just as other herbal remedies are treated in the pharmaceutical field. Visit:
www.medicalcannabis.org
Medical Marijuana for Dogs
- Cannabis Paste is the best new cure for Dogs with Cancer
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DoggyCancer.com
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Welcome to Doggy Cancer. Are you hoping there is a way to save your dog's life from cancer? People around the world are learning about Cannabis Paste as a new cure for Dogs. Chemotherapy is as foolish and deadly to dogs as it is for humans. So what natural alternatives are there? Here are couple steps recommended.
Cannabis Paste,
Eliminate Carbs,
Liquid Chlorophyll,
Antioxidants (carotenoids, vitamins C and E, selenium;
Throw out the horrible dog food and cook from scratch for example Chicken breast and vegetables.
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http://doggycancer.com/
TheBark.com |
The Dope on Pot Dogs >
Shea Cox, DVM - 11/2/2011
| Marijuana ingestion is one of the most common toxicities in dogs that I see on an emergency basis, and the post-exam conversation generally starts with the owner asking, "Do you see this often?" I just smile and say, "Well, this is Berkeley..."
Pets are most frequently exposed to marijuana when they ingest “tasty” baked products, eat the remains of marijuana cigarettes, or get into somebody’s “stash.” Dogs can also get into mischief while out on hikes, finding and eating some abandoned drug.
What is marijuana toxicity?
“Pot Patch” for Pups >
Shea Cox, DVM - 3/7/2012
| Last year, a company called Medical Marijuana Delivery Systems, LLC (MMDS) acquired the rights to a patent for a transcutaneous (through the skin) delivery of medical marijuana to humans and animals. Since our pets suffer from many of the same debilitating illnesses that we do, and with many states legalizing the use of medical marijuana, it doesn’t seem like such a stretch to apply this concept of care to our pets. This “pot patch for pups” has been given the trade name Tetracan, and the goal is for public availability by the end of 2012.
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TheBark.com
The AVMA
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is a not-for-profit association representing more than 86,500 veterinarians working in private and corporate practice, government, industry, academia, and uniformed services.
The AVMA acts as a collective voice for its membership and for the profession.
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https://www.avma.org/About/Pages/default.aspx
Medical Marijuana for Animals: A Case for Compassion
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Having an animal companion is one of the greatest joys in life, and supporting him or her through illness and the end of life can be one of the most difficult times. As human caregivers, we want to know that the treatments we are giving our animal companions are effective, humane, and causing more good than harm. Given that our animal friends may not be able to show us how they are feeling with complete accuracy, we are often left to make decisions about their medical treatments based on advice and good intentions.
This was the situation I was recently in when my kitty of 11 years, Monkey, was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. The tumor was not operable, and the vet believed that the best course of action was to keep her feeling as good as we could for as long as possible. The cancer has caused her to lose a lot of weight, and she was having trouble sleeping. I decided to mix a little cannabis oil in with her wet food and was astounded at the difference. She started acting like a kitten again, able to eat and play. She slept and purred and acted like herself again.
Even though I ended up losing her to cancer several months later, in that time I got to enjoy her for the kitty she was, not watch her slowly disappear before my eyes. I had shared with my vet that I was giving her these treatments.
My vet was supportive, and as a medical-marijuana patient in the state of California, I had access to the medicine that she needed. It was through researching this treatment that I discovered that medical marijuana for animals was not a new concept and was not as “out there” as I had originally thought.
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http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/medical-marijuana-animals-case-compassion/
Marijuana for Dogs? >
Easy access to medical marijuana by people means dogs have greater access too!
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"Can you tell me about how marijuana affects dogs?" was the question. I admit that I was somewhat taken aback by this, mainly because I knew that the late middle-aged woman asking it was quite conservative in her attitudes and I doubted that she had ever been involved with the use of recreational drugs at any point in her life. However she continued, "I know that you're a psychologist and not a veterinarian, but psychologists were among the first people to study the effects of marijuana in people, so perhaps you might know how it affects dogs."
She paused for a moment and then continued to provide some information as to where this question was coming from. "The reason that I'm asking is that I just returned from Los Angeles. My sister lives there, and she has rather severe pain from arthritis in her hips and knees. Her doctor gave her a certificate which allows her to purchase medical marijuana for the pain. You might remember that it was around 1996 when California voters approved a referendum allowing patients to receive a doctor's recommendation to grow or buy marijuana for personal use if it was for medical purposes. The process seems quite casual and everybody seems to know somebody who can legally buy cannabis, and who is willing to supply it to friends and family who want it.
It's kind of like when we were teens and we would get an adult to buy us a case of beer from the liquor store since we were under the legal age. Anyway, I went with my sister to a licensed medical marijuana dispensary when she needed to replenish her supply. The place offered a surprising array of products. One of those products was a glycerin tincture of marijuana that is being sold as a pet medicine in many of these dispensaries.
I asked the person in charge what it was used for, and he told me that marijuana can be used in dogs the same way that it is used in people—namely to relieve pain, nausea, and anxiety. He even went on to tell me that marijuana can be used for some behavioral problems in dogs, like separation anxiety, fear of loud noises, and that sort of thing. Do you know anything about this?"
I explained to her that to the best of my knowledge the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association was the first, and so far as I know the only, veterinary organization that officially encourages doing research on the safety and use of marijuana in animals.
In July 2014 this group adopted a position that says in part: "There is a growing body of veterinary evidence that cannabis can reduce pain and nausea in chronically ill or suffering animals, often without the dulling effects of narcotics.
This herb may be able to improve the quality of life for many patients, even in the face of life-threatening illnesses." I also pointed out to her that when I searched the scientific literature I could not find that "growing body of veterinary evidence" that the veterinary association referred to. In fact I could find no controlled studies that actually tested the effects of the medical use of marijuana in dogs or other pets.
The world that we humans live in is changing in ways, and some of these may also affect the lives of our dogs. As of the time of this writing, 23 states in the US have legalized the use of medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, and in 2012, Colorado and Washington State legalized recreational marijuana use.
Nonetheless such acts of legalization conflict with US federal law which currently prohibits all uses of marijuana, and anyone violating the law faces serious legal penalties.
Even in those states where medical marijuana use has been approved, officers with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration periodically raid medical marijuana dispensaries, seizing their products and shutting them down—if only temporarily.
Furthermore, at the federal level, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I controlled substance since 1970. Schedule I is the most restrictive category of drugs according to the federal Controlled Substances Act and is reserved for substances with no currently accepted medical uses and which have a high potential for abuse. This is the same category where we find heroin, LSD and ecstasy. Compare that to the fact that cocaine, methamphetamine, and morphine are schedule II drugs which are considered to be more useful medically and have less harmful consequences.
While physicians treating human beings can prescribe schedule I drugs, veterinarians cannot, and even recommending their use to their clients is an offense which can result in the loss of a veterinarian's license. This may account for the absence of formal research on the effect of cannabis on dogs.
Of course this doesn't necessarily stop pet owners from giving such drugs to their animals. Many of those people who have access to medical marijuana give it to their own dogs, with the rationale that "If it works for me it will most likely work for my dog who has a similar problem." Unfortunately this practice can be dangerous. Most people feel that marijuana is safe, and never really all that toxic.
The neurological literature shows that dogs have the same kind of endocannabinoid receptors that allow humans to benefit from the therapeutic effects of marijuana. The caution comes from the fact that this same research also says that dogs have a higher much concentration of these receptors in their hindbrains then humans do. Basically this means that dogs can develop severe neurologic effects if they receive an overdose of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the active chemical in marijuana.
Research has shown that when dogs (but not other laboratory animals that have been tested) get a high enough dosage of THC, they have a unique reaction known as marijuana toxicosis. One disturbing part of this is a condition called static ataxia. When it occurs the dog stands rigidly and rocks back and forth as if he is trying to move but cannot. The dog will drool, its eyes open very wide, pupils dilate, muscles get very tense, and the dog looks much as if he might be suffering from unpleasant, fear provoking drug induced hallucinations—the sort of situation that used to be called "a bad trip" back in the 1960s and 70s.
A team of researchers headed by Stacy Meola from the Emergency Department of Wheat Ridge Veterinary Hospital in Wheat Ridge, CO, published an article in the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care* which looked at the effect that the increased availability of marijuana had on pet dogs. This study took advantage of the fact that since the year 2000, medical marijuana has been available in the state of Colorado. In the period from 2005 to 2010 the number of registered medical marijuana users in that state increased by nearly 150 percent, so that the total number of users was in excess of 106,000 by September 2010.
The marijuana is often taken in the form of baked goods such as chocolate brownies or cookies that have been laced with THC. Colloquially these are known as "medibles". This provides a convenient form for the human user to take marijuana as a medication. It also makes it easy for dog owners (who hope that marijuana might alleviate various medical or behavioral symptoms in their pets) to medicate their pets with THC.
Even for people who are not deliberately giving their dogs marijuana it is also possible that dogs will now more easily be able to get doses of THC from these various edible products when they are inadvertently been left within the animal's reach. The result of an overdose of THC in dogs includes the severe symptoms of marijuana toxicosis that I mentioned before, and also may include tremors and loss of urinary control. This collection of problems is apt to prompt an owner to bring their animal to a veterinary clinic for emergency treatment.
The results of this study do not paint a pretty picture. Over the period of time measured, when the availability of marijuana increased, the number of dogs being brought into hospitals for marijuana toxicosis quadrupled. The number of dogs reported with symptoms increased in lock step with the number of individuals registering as medical marijuana users.
Furthermore, not all of the dogs suffering from these toxic symptoms from consuming cannabis survived. Obviously this suggests that the increased sensitivity of dogs to THC could have lethal consequences.
Since I doubt that people are administering marijuana to their dogs for recreational purposes, but rather to treat medical and behavioral problems, I suggest a good deal of caution. While future research may show benefits of giving marijuana to dogs, we must know more about safe dosages and the overall effects of THC on our pets.
Even if I lived in a place where marijuana was readily available, I would still wait for the scientific data to tell me in which situations cannabis was useful and the specific dosages to use, rather than simply offering my old dog a marijuana laced brownie to ease his arthritic pains simply because I knew that it would likely work for me.
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https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201502/marijuana-dogs
Pot 4 Spot? Medical Marijuana Goes to the Dogs ... and Cats ... and Horses ...
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Medical marijuana is making the news yet again — this time in pet healthcare. Because — guess what? — all of pot’s positives are readily translated from human to animal models. Or so it would seem. Read on:
'It actually really could be beneficial if it’s something that is well developed,' says Dr. Lisa Moses, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM. Moses serves on the board of directors for the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) and leads the pain management service at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston.
(This excerpt from an article recently published DVM Newsmagazine, a vet industry publication available to veterinarian and pet owners at www.dvm360.com.)
But Dr. Moses' enthusiasm is tempered by the practical limitations:
'The problem with a lot of stuff is that we know there’s a lot of things that should work, but because of manufacturing sloppiness or poor regulation on a supplement, we don’t know if our patients are getting what we think they’re getting.'
Still, she offers lots of positives. Again, from the DVM Newsmagazine piece:
But aside from the logistics and regulatory concerns, Moses says she would be interested in learning more about medical marijuana for pain relief in animals. If the patch truly allowed veterinarians to give their patients proper doses of the active ingredient in marijuana, Moses says it could help increase appetite, reduce nausea, improve overall energy, control pain and promote an overall feeling of well-being.
'There are definitely reasons to believe the active ingredient in marijuana affects certain pain mechanisms in the nervous system,' she says. 'It’s something I would definitely be interested in trying if it was available to me.'
All of which gets me to thinking kind of positively about the prospect of pot for my patients. Though I’m concerned about the delivery method more than anything else (patches also have their practical limitations), I know that plenty of veterinarians have major reservations about the possibility that pet owners will abuse their pets' meds.
What’s to keep my clients from drug abuse?
What’s my liability here?
Do I really want to go down this road?
To which I have this to say: If anyone’s willing to pull a patch off their pets' skin and endeavor to put it on themselves, I wish them the best of luck. It seems unlikely it’ll get them high, much less forever addicted to the stuff.
Sheesh, people can be so close-minded about what, by now, should be a reasonably well accepted medical tool. Sure, some people still assume medical marijuana is for the weak and the addicted, but the reality is much more nuanced.
So it is that I can’t help wondering: Perhaps it’ll help pot’s PR to prove that it demonstrably helps pets. After all, once proven effective, who would criticize its use in animals whose conditions were improved by this drug’s application? After all, no one could ever accuse them of moral depravity just because marijuana makes them feel better.
Now if only we could say the same for humans in the same situation.
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http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2011/aug/medical_marijuana_for_pets-11593
Could Medical Marijuana Work For Animals? | Health
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I recently became a dog owner and it changed my life completely. I now have a new routine to stick to and I have to take care of this little being every day for the rest of his life. It’s not really that hard, it’s not like it’s a human baby or something, right? Well, it depends. There’s a generational gap between what people think dogs should be treated and how dogs really should be treated. Older generations mostly believe dogs should be chained to a fence and fed bones and leftovers from your meals. Younger people have a new approach to treating dogs.
They train them at least one hour a day and take them walking three times a day. The food I give my dog is nowhere near human leftover food. Instead, I provide my dog with the most nutritional food out there. It’s a small dog so I don’t have to spend a lot of money in terms of food and it’s a housedog so he doesn’t really need to run for 4 hours every day.
Marijuana Could Relieve Animals’ pain
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As time goes on, you really start to care for that animal in ways you never thought you would. He got a thorn stuck up his paw a couple of days ago and he started limping all over the place. I took him to the vet where I saw dogs in much more serious conditions than his. Then I started wondering how I could help my pup if he was in really bad shape where traditional medicine simply wouldn’t work anymore.
Would I give him medical cannabis? Because, every time we go on a long car trip together, I break off a sleeping pill and put it in his food so he doesn’t get carsick. Even dog’s sleeping pills have the exact same properties as traditional medicine intended for humans. My question is, if we can apply store bought medicine to animals, can we provide them with medical marijuana in order to experience the same medicinal effect as humans do? Could marijuana relieve pain even in dogs?
The answer is: yes it can. The most recent example is the one of a sick and aging bulldog from California. He’s 12 years old and for the last 2 years he has been able to continue with his everyday life solely due to medical marijuana the owner has been feeding him.
Before that he just felt useless, didn’t do much, kept vomiting all the time and wasn’t really in the mood for anything. Today, he feels much better, his fur is softer and he can play again.
Introducing Medical Marijuana To Animals
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Doug Kramer is a veterinarian from California and he is leading the battle to make marijuana an animal friendly drug. At one point he simply got tired of euthanizing pets. He felt like he was letting them down somehow. He used to be an owner of a Siberian husky.
Unfortunately, the husky suffered from tumors and after surgery, weed helped him alleviate most of the pain. The dog did die shortly after but Kramer believes that weed made the transition a whole lot easier. He is now speaking out on the issue and he’s hoping that years of practice will introduce medical marijuana to dogs as well. A lot of people have expressed support for Dr. Kramer’s but are not willing to go public yet. We’ll keep you updated on future developments.
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http://www.medicalmarijuanablog.com/benefits/can-marijuana-work-for-animals.html
Veterinarian Administers Medical Marijuana To Dogs, Says It Works Wonders
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Veterinarian Doug Kramer considers his work to be “enlightened”, even naming his clinic the Enlightened Veterinary Therapeutics. When hearing about his out-of-the-box methodolgy, it’s hard to argue.
Dr. Kramer administers medical marijuana to dogs, especially those with late-staged cancer. He does so in his clinic, and is undeniably vocal about it. He’s not hiding what he’s doing, and instead is making sure to spread the word as far and wide as he can.
In an article published recently on Dogster.com, one of the largest dog sites in the world, Kramer states, regarding the decision to go against the law:
“The decision was an easy one for me to make…I refuse to condemn my patients to a miserable existence for self preservation or concerns about what may or may not happen to me as a consequence of my actions. My freedom of speech is clearly protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. This is an issue of animal welfare, plain and simple. Remaining silent would represent a clear violation of the veterinarian’s oath I took when I was admitted into this profession.”
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http://www.theweedblog.com/veterinarian-administers-medical-marijuana-to-dogs-says-it-works-wonders/
Marijuana And Birds |
Oh, the wonderful majesty of the bird! They come in all sizes and colors and have the enviable ability to soar high in the sky. And they just may be high in the sky if they’ve paid your cannabis garden a visit before setting off into flight!
Many birds eat worms, caterpillars and other squiggly creatures, which can certainly be a help if your marijuana is plagued with the creepy crawlies. But guess what else birds eat? Yep, seeds!
There are even certain types of birds which have an affinity for marijuana seeds. Many of the hemp loving feathered wonders are game birds.
Here is a partial listing of birds preferring marijuana seeds: passenger pigeon, morning dove, bobwhite quail, ringtail pheasant, hemp linnet, magpie, starling, tree sparrow, English sparrow, nuthatch, lesser spotted woodpecker and the turtledove.
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http://www.ilovegrowingmarijuana.com/marijuana-pests-birds/
MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE IN ANIMALS
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There has been much renewed discussion about the advent of legalized medical marijuana here in New York State. As you are aware, many states have legalized medical and, in some, recreational use of marijuana. None of these states have included veterinary use in their laws. There is no indication that New York is likely to be any different as it begins debate on how to introduce practical legislation on this drug. Clients have often asked, “Can medical marijuana be used in animals?”
It appears the answer is likely to be yes. Unlike in humans, where there have been many scientific studies of the benefits of the compounds found in this drug, none have been conducted in animals. Therefore, anything we know about its use in animals comes from people’s or veterinarian’s firsthand use, albeit illegally, in patients. This kind of information is known as “anecdotal evidence”.
What do we know?
Marijuana can be toxic to animals if given in large amounts or in the improper form.
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The Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society has reported an increase in animals suffering from marijuana intoxication in those states where its use has been decriminalized. Signs of intoxication begin with stumbling and incoordination, respiratory and heart rate depression leading to coma and rarely death. There is no antidote.
Supportive care usually gets these animals through their ordeals.
There are anecdotal reports of patients sharing their own medical marijuana with their animals suffering from painful diseases such as arthritis and cancer.
Some veterinarians also report seeing favorable responses in these patients. These individuals are usually using the liquid (tincture) form of the drug added to the animal’s food. The preferred form is that which reportedly contains compounds leading to more pain relief and not those that cause a “high” (known as the psychotrophic effect). Subjecting animals to smoke or homemade concoctions is not wise or well tolerated.
The bottom line: marijuana can be dangerous to our animals. Purified forms may prove helpful in controlling pain and nausea but much research remains to be done. States making it available for treating people may be wise to consider including animals as well.
- See more at:
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http://blogs.hudsonvalley.com/pets-power/2014/04/14/medical-marijuana-use-in-animals/
Medical Use of Marijuana/Cannabis for Pets?
- Posted on November 19, 2013 by skeptvet
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The medical use of marijuana has long been a “hot-button” issue in human medicine. Now, the subject has become a growing focus of debate in the veterinary field as well.
As is all too common in such debates, however, scientific facts get muddled and lost in the tempest of opinion, personal experience, and arguments about values. My attention was drawn to the issue recently when I was asked to look at the web site for a related product, Canna-Pet: Medical Cannabis for Pets.
What Is It?
| Canna-Pet is claimed to consist of “100% organic hemp.” Though there are hundreds of chemical compounds in this plant, the web site refers only to general ingredient classes (phytocannabinoids and terpenes), except for claiming a level of THC (the compound primarily responsible for the psychoactive effects of marijuana) less than 0.2% by weight. The company specifically states that the raw material is minimally processed because they claim processing destroys the value of the compounds:
Nearly every process of extraction will destroy many of these fragile and scarce compounds. Concentrated oils, tinctures, and pharmaceuticals have the natural terpenes absent (destroyed by refinement process), or may have a few supplemental terpenes added back in artificially. Likewise, refinement involving exessive heat, alcohol or harsh chemicals will reduce natural phytocannabinoid diversity and abundance.
Nevertheless, they claim, “we are able to vary the mix of phytocannabinoids and terpenes for each client, completely custom…the correct dosing of the product based upon the animal’s medical history, age and the pathophysiologic process is crucial. Phytocannabinoids and/or terpenes are significantly less effective when they are used in a ‘one size fits all’ approach.”
How this is done, and how the particular mixture appropriate for each individual is determined, is not addressed in the materials available on the web site. While it is certainly likely that the particular mixture of chemical compounds which is safest and most beneficial will differ from patient to patient, the problem with such claims of individualized treatment is that they are often based on completely haphazard, unscientific, and unproven methods of determining which therapy is best for which patient. This is the case with homeopathy, Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, and many other CAM therapies that claim to individualize treatment. It is unclear if Canna-Pet is any different since no information is provided about how the best mixture for a particular patient is determined.
Does It Work?
| The general subject of the medicinal value of marijuana and its constituent compounds is an area of active research. There is good in vitro and animal model research to suggest that many of the compounds found in Cannabis plants have significant biological effects, and that some of these may be beneficial. The clinical research in humans is limited in quantity and quality, but beneficial effects have been demonstrated for some compounds and some conditions.
Good overview of the existing research can be found in this Institute of Medicine review from 1998 and on the web site of the National Cancer Institute (though it must be mentioned that this review was put together by an independent board largely composed of CAM proponents and does not represent official NCI or NIH policy).
There is reasonable evidence to support clinical benefit in humans of some compounds from Cannabis for:
Chronic pain- “Currently available evidence suggests that cannabis treatment is moderately efficacious for treatment of chronic pain, but beneficial effects may be partially (or completely) offset by potentially serious harms. More evidence from larger, well-designed trials is needed to clarify the true balance of benefits to harms.”
Pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis- “Cannabinoids including the cannabidiol/THC buccal spray are effective in treating neuropathic pain in MS.”
Chemotherapy-associated nausea- “The superiority of the anti-emetic efficacy of cannabinoids was demonstrated through meta-analysis.” However, this review also showed, “The adverse effects were more intense and occurred more often among patients who used cannabinoids.”
Another review found, “In selected patients, the cannabinoids tested in these trials may be useful as mood enhancing adjuvants for controlling chemotherapy related sickness. Potentially serious adverse effects, even when taken short term orally or intramuscularly, are likely to limit their widespread use.”
For a number of other conditions tested, the evidence has not supported the benefits of cannabis or cannabis-derived treatments:
Epilepsy- “No reliable conclusions can be drawn at present regarding the efficacy of cannabinoids as a treatment for epilepsy.
The dose of 200 to 300 mg daily of cannabidiol was safely administered to small numbers of patients, for generally short periods of time, and so the safety of long term cannabidiol treatment cannot be reliably assessed.”
Dementia- “This review finds no evidence that cannabinoids are effective in the improvement of disturbed behaviour in dementia or in the treatment of other symptoms of dementia.
More randomized double-blind placebo controlled trials are needed to determine whether cannabinoids are clinically effective in the treatment of dementia.”
Tourette’s Syndrome - “Not enough evidence to support the use of cannabinoids in treating tics
and obsessive compulsive behaviour in people with Tourette’s syndrome.”
Morbidity and mortality associated with HIV/AIDS- “…evidence for the efficacy and safety of cannabis and cannabinoids in this setting is lacking. Such studies as have been performed have been of short duration, in small numbers of patients, and have focused on short-term measures of efficacy.
Long-term data, showing a sustained effect on AIDS-related morbidity and mortality and safety in patients on effective antiretroviral therapy, has yet to be presented. Whether the available evidence is sufficient to justify a wide-ranging revisiting of medicines regulatory practice remains unclear.”
Schizophrenia - “At present, there is insufficient evidence to support or refute the use of cannabis/cannabinoid compounds for people suffering with schizophrenia.
This review highlights the need for well designed, conducted and reported clinical trials to address the potential effects of cannabis based compounds for people with schizophrenia.”
Pain - “Cannabinoids are no more effective than codeine in controlling pain and have depressant effects on the central nervous system that limit their use. Their widespread introduction into clinical practice for pain management is therefore undesirable.
In acute postoperative pain they should not be used. Before cannabinoids can be considered for treating spasticity and neuropathic pain, further valid randomised controlled studies are needed.”
There is a large amount of clinical research evidence not yet appraised in systematic reviews such as these which suggests other possible benefits, though as always this evidence contains limitations and inconsistencies. Overall, there is reason to believe compounds derived from cannabis may have a clinically meaningful benefit in humans for a number of medical conditions, but there is still a great deal of uncertainty, and the evidence is not strong or definitive for most of the suggested uses.
As usual, I have not been able to find any formal clinical research involving cannabis-derived products and companion animals. Some of the basic science studying these compounds has been done in dogs, so there is some information about the effects of these chemicals on this species, but no formal studies designed to identify safety and efficacy of clinical use of specific compounds or products.
As for the Canna-Pet product, the marketing for this raises many of the red flags of snake oil. Dramatic claims of wide-ranging benefits with absolutely no risk of undesirable effects are made, which is the hallmark of questionable therapies:
We find medical benefits, behavioral benefits, prolonged life, reduced stress, and improved quality of life with our pets.
Improved vitality and overall health. Reduction in aggression, anxiety and behavior problems. Reduction of arthritic pain and digestive issues (IBD, diarrhea and constipation), reduction in nausea and improved appetite, improved quality of life, outstanding for palliative care.
Helps with aggression disorders, noise phobias, anxiety, self-trauma, cognitive disorders and dementia (canine), marking and spraying (feline), sleep disorders, OCD, excessive vocalization and inappropriate urination.
" ... phytocannabinoids often allow for much lower dosing of drugs that have potential negative side effects. Canna-Pet™ augments other medications ...
We recommend Canna-Pet™ supplements as a daily food additive for all pets ...
100% Safe. There are ZERO negative side effects and NO medical conflicts."
The evidence provided to support this apparently miraculous therapy appears, at first glance, to be impressive. A long list of links to research on cannabis-derived compounds is provided. However, much of this research is test tube, lab animal, or animal model studies which at best only suggest some compounds in hemp might have potentially useful biological effects. None of the studies linked to are clinical trials of Canna-Pet in companion animals.
The web site does seem to suggest that such studies exist:
Seventeen years in development, five years of clinical trials, now available OTC.
However, after failing to find these clinical trials in databases of published veterinary research or on the Canna-Pet website, I found a statement from one of the developers of Canna-Pet which suggests that this use of the term “clinical trials” is a bit misleading.
Six years ago I started using phytocannabinoids and terpenes with my own pets and the frequent rescues and fosters with which I deal. Finally, I started recommending this adjunctive and palliative therapy for the pets of family, friends and specific clients. The results have been universally positive and this is in part why I helped develop a specific mixing process and dosing regimens for animals.
This statement would appear to suggest that by “clinical trials” the company means uncontrolled individual trial-and-error use. It is not uncommon for promoters of new or unconventional therapies to suggest there is “research” showing that their therapies work when they really mean only that they have used it in their own patients and believe it works. If it were truly that easy to identify effective therapies, clinical trials wouldn’t be necessary, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
As far as I can tell, then, there is no evidence to establish the safety and efficacy of this product beyond pre-clinical research (which is suggestive but never definitive), extrapolation from limited and often conflicting research in humans (which is common in veterinary medicine), and anecdotal experience (which is highly unreliable). The most appropriate interpretation of the evidence, then, is that the product might work or might not, it might be safe or it might not, but no firm conclusion can be made.
Use of such a product is risky but can be appropriate in some circumstances. It is simply unfortunate that the company makes claims for the product that go far beyond anything that can be reasonably substantiated by real scientific data.
The company does put a few caveats on its claims. The Quack Miranda Warning required by the Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act is present:
FDA Disclosure: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products and statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The web site also appropriately points out that, “these compounds are not a cure-all wonder drug. They are to be used as directed and they are to be used expressly with any and all currently prescribed therapies and medications. As directed by your attending veterinarian.” Still, such warnings seem a bit tepid compared with the much more dramatic, assertive, and prominent claims of safety and benefits for the product.
Is It Safe?
| Marijuana intoxication is relatively common in dogs and can be serious, though rarely life-threatening. It is likely that the primary compound responsible for the clinical symptoms is the THC, so a product with low levels of this compound might be safer than ordinary marijuana, but there is little research on the subject. And without direct studies of particular compounds or products, it is impossible to establish long-term safety.
The makers of Canna-Pet assure pet owners of complete and absolute safety, which is unrealistic for any product that has any biological effects at all. They appear to base this on the fact that it is “natural,” which of course is a completely arbitrary and meaningless claim, and that their own uncontrolled anecdotal observations haven’t identified any negative effects. This is certainly not a level of safety assurance that would be accepted for any drug, and it is no more appropriate to accept it for a gemish of chemicals found in an herbal product.
The specific claim is actually made that it is actually an advantage of the product that it is a complex mixture of chemical compounds: “When we apply ALL of these phytocannabinoids and terpenes simultaneously, the cumulative effects are exponential.” This is a common claim for herbal remedies.
While it is true that sometimes multiple compounds in a mixture can have synergistic effects (working together to improve efficacy and decrease undesired effects), it is just as true that such compounds can interfere with one another or have additive undesired effects. It is important to determine the actual clinical actions of a particular product through appropriate clinical research. It is not wise or safe to assume that the more complex a mixture is the better and safer it will be.
Bottom Line
| Like so many plant-based alternative therapies, there is sufficient pre-clinical basic research to suggest compounds derived from cannabis might be medically useful. And like many medically useful chemicals, these are likely to have risks and benefits, both desirable and undesirable effects. There is nothing about such supposedly “natural” products that makes them inherently safer or better than purified compounds. And there is nothing about cannabis that makes it any more or less likely to be a useful medical therapy or to have both benefits and risks.
The current research evidence supports a couple of uses in humans, including treatment of nausea and poor appetite and possibly pain. Most other uses are poorly supported by clinical research. And there are unquestionably side effects that make marijuana often less useful than isolated cannabinoids or other unrelated treatments.
There is virtually no useful research evidence in companion animals, so any use of cannabis products is based entirely on theory and extrapolation from the limited research results in humans.
Canna-Pet as a specific product, is being marketed with very dramatic and aggressive claims about safety and efficacy that do not appear to be supported by specific research on the product but, again, are based entirely on theory and anecdote, both notoriously unreliable sources of evidence.
There are recognized behavioral and medical risks associated with marijuana use in humans. While the behavioral risks do not apply to use in companion animals, and the medical issues associated with THC do not apply to products with negligible amounts of this compound, the risks of cannabis-derived compounds in dogs and cats are largely unknown.
Any use of such products, then, should be undertaken with a clear understanding of the high levels of uncertainty about the results, and claims should not be made for these products that go beyond the available evidence.
Finally, the moral and political issues associated with the use and regulation of cannabis are real, but they have little direct relevance to a scientific evaluation of the risks and benefits of any medical use. Even if one supports legal recreational use of marijuana, that doesn’t imply one should support medical use without adequate evidence of safety and efficacy.
And if one is opposed to recreational use of marijuana, that doesn’t make it appropriate to deny the possibility of medical benefits or to obstruct appropriate research into this possibility. As is always the case, a rational use of science to determine the facts is necessary to make an informed judgment, independent of any other concerns.
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http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2013/11/medical-use-of-marajuanacannabis-for-pets/
Medical Marijuana For Pets: Legalization's Effect On Veterinary Medicine
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Medical marijuana has been approved for human use in 22 states, but now there are talks of using the plant on sick pets.
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Medical marijuana, commonly used to relieve chemotherapy nausea and pain, is now being used to help pets manage pain and chronic illnesses. Why use marijuana for animals? To put it simply, those who've experimented with the drug for their pets say it just works. And in states where it's legal, some companies are leading the way in marijuana- and hemp-based naturopathic medicine.
Seattle-based Canna Companion uses ground-up hemp plants to make capsules, which don't contain delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the more active ingredient in marijuana, according to CNBC. Instead, they contain cannabidiol (CBD), the ingredient most useful for treating pain and other medical problems. Another Seattle company, Canna-Pet, makes similar drugs. By omitting THC, and keeping CBD and many of the other 60 or so cannabinoids in the plant, pet patients can get pain relief without getting high.
California resident Ernest Misko also tried the drug while experiencing severe back pain. His results were so great that he decided to give his aging cat, Borzo, some — he was having difficulty walking. After just a few days of using the drug, Misko noted great improvements in Borzo, who was able to walk around a lot better, and appeared to be pain free.
“I don’t get high from [marijuana], but the pain goes away. So I tried it on my cat, my 24-year-old cat, who’s feeling better,” Misko told the Journal.
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http://www.medicaldaily.com/medical-marijuana-pets-legalizations-effect-veterinary-medicine-287196
Yes, People Are Giving Their Pets Medical Marijuana (02/25/2015) |
Mother ...
Cannabis may have a bad name among vets because they tend only to see the animals that have overdosed—either by tearing into their owner's stash of pot ...
Medical cannabis now being used to treat illnesses in dogs and cats
By Beth Balen, National Monitor | February 25, 2015
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The medical marijuana debate is being extended to include pets.
Medical cannabis is being widely touted as a treatment for pain and anxiety, and now the product is gaining popularity as a help for pets with similar afflictions. Dogs and cats are not eating the same kind of pot that people use to get high. Instead they eat hemp-based capsules that contain only trace amounts of THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient behind the cannabis high.
At this time no state or federal agency has legalized, or made any provisions at all for, the pet supplement industry, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) still considers industrial hemp to be a controlled substance, despite the fact that it is not psychoactive.
Canna-Pet and Canna Companion are two companies that make supplements from hemp. They are leading veterinary medicine into the new field of medical cannabis for pets.
Canna Companion was launched last March by Dr. Greg Copas and Dr. Sarah Brandon, veterinarians (and husband and wife) who have been exploring medical pot for pets for about eight years. They have given the medication to their own pets and those of friends, combining information from the human world and their knowledge of cats and dogs to find something that worked well for animals.
Canna Companion capsules are made by grinding up the entire hemp plant - leaves, seeds, roots and stem - to preserve all the ingredients. They want just a small amount of THC, plus cannabidiol (CBD), in their product. Brandon notes that it is all experimental, and that they are up-front about that with people.
Both companies have positive testimonials on their websites from people who swear that their dogs and cats have been helped by the medical cannabis products. Although many veterinarians acknowledge that there are potential benefits for the treatment of conditions such as pain and anxiety, they point out that testimonials are not scientific evidence.
Veterinary experts advise caution, saying that the sales are getting ahead of the science. They advise checking with a vet before giving any cannabis-based product to a pet.
Have something to say? Let us know in the comments section or send an email to the author. You can share ideas for stories by contacting us here.
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http://natmonitor.com/2015/02/25/medical-cannabis-now-being-used-to-treat-illnesses-in-dogs-and-cats/
Why medical marijuana can work for your pets | The Medical ...
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Humans aren’t the only species who can enjoy the medical benefits of marijuana. Find out how medical cannabis is helping sick dogs and cats, and giving hope to concerned pet owners who had nowhere else to turn.
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Toronto’s Sam Mellace saw nothing wrong in giving his elderly border collie some marijuana-laced doggie biscuits.
“I don’t look at this as a recreational issue,” he says. “This, to me, is a medical thing.”
When Mellace started administering the treatment, his 13-year-old dog Copper had been suffering. He endured painful arthritis and his hips were beginning to give. Mellace and his partner considered bringing the dog to Ontario’s University of Guelph for a pricey surgery, but opted instead to try something else: a homemade distillation of CBD and CBN—two of the chemical compounds found in marijuana plants—baked into the pooch’s favourite treats.
“We extracted the THC out so that the dog didn’t have any hallucinations,” Mellace explains, noting that the remaining CBD and CBN are strictly therapeutic components. “And believe it or not, after a couple of days he was up and walking around like there was no tomorrow.” The dog’s hip joint inflammation ceased and he ended up living an additional two and a half years.
As Mellace is one of Canada’s leading medical marijuana activists and the founder of Toronto’s New Age Medical Solutions dispensary, his course of action might not come as much of a surprise. But interest in veterinary medical marijuana is beginning to take hold beyond the realm of cannabis gurus.
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http://medireview.com/2013/09/why-medical-marijuana-can-work-for-your-pets/
MNN.COM › Family › Pets
Is medical marijuana safe for pets? | MNN - Mother Nature Network >
A Los Angeles veterinarian launches a national conversation after treating his own dying dog with cannabis, but even he agrees that more scientific research is needed.
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For the first time in more than four decades, a majority of Americans favor legalizing marijuana, and as cannabis has become more widely accepted, so have its potential uses — including giving it to pets.
Search the Web and you’ll find a wealth of anecdotal evidence from pet owners about how cannabis improved the lives of their sick and dying furry companions. But it wasn’t until Los Angeles veterinarian Doug Kramer spoke out on the issue earlier this year that the issue of pets and marijuana gained national attention.
"I grew tired of euthanizing pets when I wasn't doing everything I could to make their lives better," he told The Associated Press. "I felt like I was letting them down."
Kramer hadn’t given much thought to marijuana’s potential to help animals until his Siberian husky, Nikita, developed terminal cancer.
"Nikita was wasting away, and she’d stopped eating," he says in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "I’d exhausted every available pharmaceutical pain option, even steroids. At that point, it was a quality-of-life issue, and I felt like I’d try anything to ease her suffering."
Kramer started feeding Nikita a small amount of marijuana, and soon her appetite returned and she began meeting him at the door again. While cannabis wasn’t a cure, he says it improved the dog’s quality of life and gave him an extra six weeks with her.
"I don’t want to come across as being overly in favor of giving marijuana to pets," he said. "My position is the same as the AMA’s. We need to investigate marijuana further to determine whether the case reports I’m hearing are true or whether there’s a placebo effect at work. We also need to know what the risks are."
Although medical marijuana is legal for people in 20 states and the District of Columbia, it’s still considered an illicit drug under federal law. Physicians in states where medical marijuana is sanctioned can recommend the drug to patients, but such protections don’t apply to veterinarians.
The Associated Press reached out to veterinarians who say they share Kramer’s view on cannabis, but they wouldn’t talk on the record for fear of arrest.
Dr. Duncan Lascelles, a professor of surgery and pain management at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is interested in studying marijuana as a treatment for pets, but says research could take a decade to ensure such a medication will be effective and free of side effects.
He says such testing would be complex because even after the suitable extract, drug, root and dose are identified, the problem remains that not all pain syndromes are alike.
"I think it’s pretty bad that there are a number of veterinarians that are giving a variety of different products by a variety of different roots without any bases behind it at all," he told Technician, N.C. State University’s student newspaper.
Read more:
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http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/is-medical-marijuana-safe-for-pets
Pot for pets: Vets recommend medical marijuana for animals in pain
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Dr. Douglas Kramer and his dog Mason are inside his mobile surgical truck during an application of cannabis oil to the skin of Mason, who had already undergone multiple surgeries to remove cancerous growths. Stories abound about changes in sick and dying pets after they’ve been given marijuana. There is a growing movement, led by Los Angeles veterinarian Doug Kramer, to make it more widely available. Others, however, urge caution until there’s better science behind it.
Some other vets contacted said they share Kramer’s view on pot, but they wouldn’t talk on the record for fear of arrest or retaliation.
Kramer hasn’t lost any clients over his view, but he was asked not to return to some of the clinics where he volunteered or relieved other vets because of concerns over the negative image his advocacy creates, he said.
Vets who want traditional testing point to a study by two Colorado animal hospitals that compared the number of dogs treated for what appeared to be accidental marijuana overdoses between 2005 and 2010 with increases in the number of marijuana licenses issued. As registrations increased 146-fold, the number of sickened pets went up four-fold.
“Sometimes public sentiment and activity gets ahead of the scientific background and that can be dangerous,” said Barry Kellogg, senior veterinary adviser to the Humane Society of the United States.
While two dogs with pot in their system died in the Colorado survey, hallucinogenic reactions may make dogs wobbly on their legs, raise their pulse and cause dribbly urine, said Dr. Karl Jandrey, an emergency and critical care vet at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis.
But pot clinic managers say that a proper dose of the drug will prevent a bad reaction.
Jessica LeRoux of Twirling Hippy Confections in Denver made custom treats that helped extend the life of her last service dog, a black Lab-border collie mix named Thor.
“I got the 15th year out of that relationship because of the product I made for him,” she said.
Old or ailing pets who take cannabis usually experience an immediate boost in appetite and relief from pain. That lets them get around, relieve themselves without help, sleep better and enjoy their families until age or disease catches up, LeRoux said in explaining how the cannabis helps pets.
At La Brea Compassionate Caregivers in Los Angeles, manager Megan Hanley recommends a drop of liquid marijuana extract marketed as Companion Cannabis for every 10 pounds of dog. It can be spread on cheese or bread.
... Vets recommend medical marijuana for animals in pain. ... Cannabis, Medical Cannabis ... It's absurd to perform ten years of testing when it essentially works ...
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http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/pot-for-pets-vets-recommend-medical-marijuana-for-animals-in/article_ea18eb2c-d2a1-11e2-9793-001a4bcf887a.html
Pet owners increasingly using medical marijuana to help their pets feel better
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(NaturalNews) As the social stigmas and taboos about marijuana that largely emerged during the "Reefer Madness" generation continue to be stripped away from the public consciousness, an increasing number of people are beginning to look at this all natural herb with fresh eyes, recognizing its incredible potential for healing. This includes a growing number of pet owners who are now using the plant and its essential oils to safely and effectively treat their ailing pets.
CBS New York reports that veterinary cannabis use is on the rise across all segments of society, and particularly among pet owners whose pets have severe or even terminal illnesses that do not respond to conventional treatment. Major conditions like cancer, many pet owners are finding, respond quite well to cannabis use when nothing else does. And unlike conventional treatments, cannabis treatment does not cause any harmful side effects.
One such success story is "Luna" Capers, the beloved dog of Rowyn Capers who reportedly gained her quality of life back after being given a non-psychoactive cannabis oil extract for late-stage lymphoma. When chemotherapy left the dog gravely ill and on the verge of death, Rowyn began to administer the natural therapy instead, which produced incredible results.
"Her lymph nodes were like golf balls and she was coughing constantly and she couldn't breathe, and I just thought it's time to say goodbye," said Rowyn to CBS News about Luna's condition before the cannabis. "The first time I dosed her [with cannabis] I was so scared. We were looking at her all night. [But the] more I increased her cannabis dose the less side effects that she had. The vomiting stopped, the diarrhea stopped."
Similar success was achieved by Mary Lynn Mathre, the owner of a 13-year-old golden retriever who was also diagnosed with cancer. After learning about cannabis, Mary Lynn began to give all of her dogs a daily cracker topped with cannabis-infused butter, which not only helped the sick one but also helped improve the health of all her dogs, including one with a strange bald spot on its leg.
"There was no hair on a circle that it would lick and lick," stated Mary Lynn to CBS New York, noting that both dogs experienced dramatic improvements as a result of the cannabis.
Cannabis helps pets with low energy, cancer, and epilepsy
Al Byrne's three dogs, who range in age from three to 13, have also responded positively to marijuana. Besides noticeable increases in energy among all the dogs, Al says each of his furry family members now has a shinier coat and a "shine in their eyes" that was not there before.
"When you see them enjoying life and feeling better and not being sick, you know you've hit something," says Darlene Arden, a certified animal behaviorist who is a strong advocate for veterinary cannabis use. "I think we can now see marijuana for exactly what it is and what it can do. [It's not] a street drug but a legitimate medication to be used under proper supervision."
Many CBS New York commenters with pets seem to agree with these sentiments, as some of them posted their own stories about how medical cannabis helped their pets. One woman recounts how her three-year-old dog almost died from epilepsy but experienced a dramatic and immediate recovery after being placed on a regimen of medical cannabis.
"As a last ditch effort after her last bout of seizures and being unable to come out of her postictal state, despite being administered a heavy sedative by our vet, we tried marijuana we had received from a friend of ours (it's legal in our state)," writes the commenter. "Within less than 15 minutes, our dog came fully out of its postictal state, laid down, and napped for (about) 2 hours before waking up and wanting to play tennis ball and tug. It was beyond anything I had seen before with this dog."
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Learn more:
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http://www.naturalnews.com/043071_medical_marijuana_pet_owners_sick_animals.html
Veterinary marijuana?
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With pet owners already using the drug as medicine, veterinarians need to join the debate
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Miles was dying.
The 12-year-old black Labrador Retriever–type dog had developed a splenic tumor that eventually metastasized to the liver and lungs. Miles was given two months to live and tramadol for the pain.
But, Miles’ owner didn’t like the way tramadol affected her pet. “Every time we gave it to him, he would just sleep; he wouldn’t even move. He’d just lay there like he was dead,” said Denise, who asked that her real name not be used.
Sitting outside a West Hollywood, Calif., café with Miles at her feet, Denise recalls how a friend suggested she try a glycerin tincture of marijuana that is sold as a pet medicine in dozens of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Los Angeles. Within an hour after she gave Miles the tincture, the dog’s appetite returned, and he was no longer vomiting. “It couldn’t have been a coincidence,” Denise said.
“The other great thing is that in the last couple of weeks, Miles has been going to the beach, he’s been running, he’s being himself,” she continued. “If Miles was on the tramadol, he’d be in bed, and he wouldn’t be enjoying anything or eating anything, and he’d probably be dead. I’m just really grateful we found this.”
Though initially hesitant about giving her pet an unapproved drug, Denise figured where’s the harm? Miles has terminal cancer and would die soon. Besides, people can’t overdose on marijuana, she reasoned. “I wasn’t that worried. I was actually pretty excited, because it has been used with human cancer patients for pain and nausea,” Denise said.
If the tramadol had worked, Denise says she wouldn’t have considered giving her dog marijuana. Now a “true believer” in marijuana’s therapeutic effects for at least some animal ailments, Denise says she will recommend the drug to other pet owners. “People need to understand that this isn’t about getting my dog high,” she said. “It’s about improving his quality of life.”
The times, they are a-changin’
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States have been chipping away at the federal prohibition on medical marijuana since 1996, when California voters approved a referendum allowing patients to receive a doctor’s recommendation to grow or possess marijuana for personal use. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have since passed similar laws permitting marijuana to be used medicinally in people. And in 2012, Colorado and Washington state legalized recreational marijuana use.
The federal government, however, has not followed suit. Federal law currently prohibits all uses of marijuana, and anyone violating the law faces serious legal penalties. Even in those states where medical marijuana use has been approved, officers with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration periodically raid medical marijuana dispensaries, seizing their assets and shutting them down, even if only temporarily.
Horsing Around
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Becky Flowers came to believe in marijuana’s healing powers for animals in a similar fashion. The Southern Californian’s pet horse, a 20-year-old Paso Fino named Phoenix, had had degenerative ligament disease for several years. But nearly a year ago, the condition worsened. Phenylbutazone, glucosamine, Cavallo boots, cold and warm wraps—whatever Flowers tried, it didn’t help the horse for long. Eventually, Phoenix lay on her side and stopped eating and drinking.
Before resorting to euthanizing Phoenix, Flowers fed the horse marijuana. After all, Flowers herself had found marijuana to be a more effective analgesic than the medication she had been prescribed for pain associated with spinal spurs, arthritis, and several recent wrist surgeries. “Cannabis offers more relief to me than Norco, so why wouldn’t it also help Phoenix?” she reasoned.
Within an hour of ingesting a small amount of marijuana, Phoenix was walking, eating, and drinking, according to Flowers. She boils the marijuana plant, then makes the abstract into a butter that she feeds the horse once a day.
“With cannabis, I don’t worry about potential liver damage as with bute. I also don’t worry about her overdosing, as I only give her a small amount. She never appears panicky or disoriented. She’s just her normal, happy Phoenix,” she said, adding that her Chinese Crested dog Tripper no longer chews on his feet since Flowers started mixing a small amount of marijuana into the dog’s food once a day.
Toxic effects
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Dr. Dawn Boothe wouldn’t be surprised if veterinarians are one day treating patients with FDA-approved analgesics made from cannabinoid derivatives.
“My gut reaction is they do probably provide some therapeutic effect benefit,” said Dr. Boothe, director of the Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology. “But,” she quickly added, “I’m never going to say there’s enough benefit that marijuana should be given to pets. I’m saying there’s enough justification that we need to study it.”
Dr. Boothe thinks veterinarians shouldn’t discount marijuana’s potential as an animal therapy simply because it’s a controlled substance or a plant; after all, the same can be said about morphine. Whereas morphine’s pharmacological effects on humans and animals have been thoroughly studied, Dr. Boothe said that’s not the case for marijuana, which is why giving the drug to a pet as medicine is actually putting the animal at risk.
The public shouldn’t assume marijuana affects humans and animals in the same ways, nor should they assume, that because marijuana is a natural substance, it isn’t harmful. “When people say something is natural and therefore safe, my immediate response: ‘Natural to what?’” Dr. Boothe said. “Marijuana certainly doesn’t occur naturally in animals or people, and that’s why the body develops ways of ridding itself of compounds introduced to it.”
Dr. Boothe referred to a study from a 2012 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care that found the number of marijuana toxicosis cases at two Colorado veterinary hospitals quadrupled during a five-year period when the number of state medical marijuana registrations substantially increased. Researchers reported two dogs died after eating baked goods containing marijuana.
The chances of this trend being unique to Colorado are remote, according to Dr. Boothe, who sees this as one more reason the veterinary profession can no longer sit on the sidelines as the rest of the country debates medical marijuana.
“Veterinarians do need to be part of the dialogue. We should be kept in the loop in terms of translational medicine aspects,” she said. “I can see a well-designed, controlled clinical trial looking at the use of marijuana to treat cancer pain in animals. That would be a wonderful translational study, with relevance to both pets and their people.”
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www.avma.org/news/javmanews/pages/130615a.aspx
Do You Think Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized for Dogs?
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Cannabis relieves pain and suffering in dogs, but most vets want nothing to do with it. What do you think?
- Julia Szabo, Feb 25th 2013 |
Christine L. of Nevada misses her Rottweiler, Sampson, who passed away on November 20, 2012 of a rare form of blood cancer. "In 2010, between the vomiting and diarrhea, he was losing two pounds a day," she recalls. Unable to afford chemotherapy, she felt helpless watching her best friend waste away to 64 pounds, less than three quarters of his fighting weight.
Then Christine stumbled upon a controversial homemade herbal remedy that she credits with enormously improving her dog's quality of life. She's grateful that, in his final year, Sampson weighed in at a robust 106 pounds and lived free of the wracking pain that had haunted him. Whereas before Sampson had been too weak to walk, almost overnight he became a born-again youngster. "He was a puppy again, happy and playful," Christine recalls. "He'd trot around the house with his toys in his mouth, wanting to play fetch!"
The name of the controversial herbal remedy Sampson took? Cannabis.
Inspired by reports of medical marijuana helping human cancer patients, Christine started digging online. The search terms? "How to administer cannabis to a dog." Christine -- who, for the record, is not a recreational cannabis user -- was initially concerned about giving it to her dog because of the bad press she'd heard about the plant.
But after giving Sampson cannabis flower-bud material mixed with virgin coconut oil (which the Rotti lapped up gladly), she noticed a huge difference in the dog's attitude almost immediately.
"Cannabis saved my dog's life," she says. "It brought him back from the brink."
Since Sampson's passing, Christine consoles herself by reaching out to others in a similar situation. Online, she found Dr. Doug Kramer, whose mission is to improve pets' quality of life by outlining safe and effective dosing guidelines.
A conservative, clean-cut Californian, Kramer doesn't use marijuana himself for recreational or medicinal purposes. His goal, he says, is "to provide palliative care and prevent accidental overdoses resulting from owners' well-meaning attempts to relieve their pets' pain and suffering."
As Ohio vet Neal J. Sivula explains, "I am very frustrated by veterinarians' seeming lack of interest in exploring this potentially very useful plant, Dr. Kramer being the exception. I am gathering that most veterinarians have not followed the changes in genetic strains of MM. Most think of MM only in terms of what might be purchased for illicit use and haven't done their research to know that strains have been developed with an eye toward pain control, nausea relief, and appetite stimulation with minimal reported side effects [in people]."
Dr. Sue Boynton of Santa Rosa, CA, hopes that -- like numerous other treatments used to help human patients, from homeopathy to hyperbaric oxygen therapy -- MM may soon be legally harnessed as a treatment option for pets.
"I see an awful lot of animals with cancer, and I treat them with conventional chemo," Boynton says. "I'm all about diagnostics -- ultrasound, radiology, blood work. I use it all to see what's going on with my patients. But then I like to add in other modalities, like Chinese herbs and homeopathy, because I think alternative medicine has a lot to offer. Why is cannabis not an option for pets, when it's so widespread as an option in the human world?"
Dr. Sivula recalls a dog patient with chronic arthritis who was being medicated by the owner when all other traditional pain medications had failed. MM was helpful in relieving the dog's discomfort.
... The bottom line is that we absolutely need the DEA to reclassify MM so that it can be studied."
What do you think? Should medical marijuana be legalized for dogs? Would you use it on your dog? Let us know in the comments!
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http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/medical-marijuana-for-dogs
Britain’s Birders Campaign to Legalize Cannabis -
1 March 2015
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Hemingway, an organic cannabis grower who refuses to reveal his face or
real name to the public, launched Feed The Birds two years ago, ... read more
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http://daggamagazine.com/2015/03/01/britains-birders-campaign-to-legalize-cannabis/
Pot for pets? Cannabis now helping dogs and cats
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Georgia, a 5-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is a medical marijuana patient. Kelly Conway, Georgia's owner, takes some heat when she tells friends about the unorthodox treatment.
"People will say they can't believe I'm letting her get high, but she's not getting high," Conway said.
No, Georgia is not ingesting the same kind of pot that Snoop Dogg smokes. (Or New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd eats.) Georgia, along with a growing number of pets, eats hemp-based capsules that contain only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol—or THC—the psychoactive ingredient that provides the cannabis high.
Georgia suffered from syringomyelia, a serious neurological disease, and traditional medicine wasn't working. So earlier this year, Conway took her to Dr. Cynthia Graves, who practices alternative veterinary care in Philadelphia. Graves started Georgia on acupuncture, which seemed to help, and then she recommended Canna-Pet, a supplement made from hemp, for Georgia's pain and anxiety.
Conway was skeptical, but to her surprise, it worked.
Helping with pain and anxiety
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Graves has recommended hemp-based supplements for other dogs experiencing anxiety or pain. She's also used Canna-Pet in conjunction with cancer treatments and to boost appetite in dogs that won't eat.
"There's no question that it's a benefit to some patients," she said.
Does it work?
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CNBC contacted a number of veterinary experts about the use of cannabis-related products to treat dogs and cats. All of them saw the potential for benefits for some conditions, such as anxiety and pain management. But they also pointed out that testimonials are not scientific evidence.
"We don't have any data to go on to indicate whether it's going to have a therapeutic effect or whether it's potentially problematic," said Patricia Talcott, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University. "It's probably low risk, but we simply don't know."
Dr. Robin Downing, a pain management expert and hospital director at the Downing Center for Animal Pain Management in Windsor, Colorado, agrees. She sees a lot of potential—and a lot of red flags.
"There's a whole host of hoo-ha out there when it comes to how this product can and should be used," she said. "We have no information that is reliable, valid or useful about the true applications for cannabinoids. What we don't know far exceeds what we know."
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/101732379
Can Medical Marijuana be Used for Dogs and Cats?
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He’s not exactly prescribing bong hits for pets, but a California veterinarian may be the first in the country to formally offer consultations on how to medicate sick pets using marijuana.
Dr. Douglas Kramer, otherwise known as the Vet Guru, cannot legally prescribe the federally classified Schedule 1 controlled substance, although California has made possession of medical marijuana legal. The feds still consider it illegal, as the war over its medical uses is fought in local, state and national venues.
Medical marijuana prescriptions from California veterinarians won’t be available anytime soon. Veterinarian journals don’t discuss the drug, according to Mother Jones, and the magazine had a hard time even finding veterinarians to discuss the issue. Part of the problem may be the danger of overdose, which rarely happens with humans but is possible with other mammals. Symptoms of OD include lethargy, vomiting, seizures and even coma.
But anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that mostly happens when a pet steals into the owner’s private stash and wolfs it all down. And, inarguably, nobody wants to see that happen.
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http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/can-medical-marijuana-be-used-for-dogs-and-cats-130507?news=849950
Vet uses medical marijuana for dogs, cats, seeks legalization
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Had you thought of it, you might have figured this day was coming - a veterinarian is treating dogs with THC. Not only that but California vet Dr. Doug Kramer seeks to have medical marijuana legalized for animals.
"A client first brought it to my attention," Dr. Kramer told Vice magazine's Harry Cheadle. "She was a bit eccentric, but she was a very intelligent woman. She had a pet that was not responding well to any of the pain medications or the steroids that we were giving it, and she wanted to talk about getting medical marijuana. The other vets at the practice were pretty dismissive, but she saw that I was willing to listen."
Medical Marijuana: Stimulates cats appetites
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The vet, who has a website that focuses on alternative methods of helping animals called Vet Guru, says he's found some success using marijuana to treat both dogs and cats. His own dog, Nikita, was dying from terminal cancer and marijuana enabled the dog, Dr. Kramer said, to get back up and move around and have a far better quality of life until her death.
For cats the L.A. vet found it can successfully be used as a appetite stimulant and he believes that usage could be expanded to other animals. "We’re using it on cats as much, if not more (than on dogs), as an appetite stimulant," he said. "Cats are finicky, especially when they’re really sick. Any animal that has the cannabinoid receptors would respond the same way we do. There are studies out there that show that pigs, chickens, monkeys, and rats all have those same receptors."
Administering THC to pets
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Dr. Kramer is not one to suffer cruelty to animals in any form and he becomes angry when hearing of people who blow marijuana into their pets face to get them high ("it's animal abuse, really"). He says it won't have medical benefit to administer it in that way in any case.
"A glycerin tincture is, to me, by far the optimal way to do it (administer THC to a unwell pet)," Dr. Kramer told 'Vice'. "Because it offers the greatest accuracy in dosing. It’s also sweet tasting. Obviously you can make it into butter or oil, so anything that you can cook or make with butter or oil would work, like homemade dog biscuits."
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Read more:
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http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/347397#ixzz3TBAYUJrD
Cannabis Helps Dogs and Cats (12/2013)
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A lot about Cannabis has been in the news lately with regards to legalizing medical marijuana for personal use. Well, now cannabis is helping dogs and cats in Washington state.
Sarah Brandon, a Seattle veterinarian says conventional marijuana that humans consume contains high levels of THC. That THC is not good for your dog or any other pets, due high levels of psychotropics or the part that makes a human high. When animals take in cannabis with these psychotropics it can often cause them paranoia, anxiety and stress.
On the other side, Brandon is a co-founder of Canna-Pet and her 5-year quest has uncovered a way to let dogs gain the health benefits that the cannabis can offer. Just like their best friend, humans.
Canna-Pet has taken their experiments with hemp and other plant parts that usually don’t have any THC. What they found was that the benefits of cannabis still remained even without the THC.
At first the group tried the Canna-Pet on their own pets and expanded the test to other furry patients. Once the cannabis had gone to the dogs and cats in the study, Brandon would fine tune the recipe and come up with all natural compounds from the hemp.
Phytocannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes make up the Canna-Pet product, and all three make up the human kind of THC. Yet the psychotropics are nearly non-existent at 0.3 percent in the pet version.
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http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/cannabis-helps-dogs-and-cats/
Yes, People Are Giving Their Pets Medical Marijuana (05/2013)
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Is it ever a good idea to get your dog or cat stoned? California veterinarian Doug Kramer says the answer depends on whether your pet could be classified as a medical marijuana patient.
"I do think there are therapeutic benefits to it," says Kramer, who some years ago found that his homemade pot tinctures helped his own dog, a husky named Nikita, fight pain and regain her appetite after she came down with cancer.
Despite the spread of medical pot laws around the country, marijuana still remains taboo within the veterinary establishment; its medical journals won't publish anything about it, and Kramer is one of the few veterinarians even willing to discuss using medical marijuana for pets. He points out that a slew of medical studies on the effects of pot have relied on rats and dogs as substitutes for humans, suggesting that "mammals have the same cannabinoid receptors as humans do" and "would benefit in the same ways."
Perhaps the nation's only overtly 420-friendly vet, Kramer has crowdsourced a slew of research on pot for pets. Through submissions to his website, VetGuru.com, and surveys distributed at pot dispensaries, he has amassed more than 500 case studies, the vast majority of them positive, he says.
Cannabis may have a bad name among vets because they tend only to see the animals that have overdosed—either by tearing into their owner's stash of pot brownies, or by getting treated with a tad too many kibbles and hits. "Obviously the dose for a Great Dane will be much different than what you'd give a Chihuahua," says Kim Baker, a holistic pet care provider based in Denver. An over-baked dog, she says, is typically lethargic, suffers from a loss of balance, and may be at risk of choking on its vomit.
But why stop there? He tells me of a woman who fed her horse cannabis-infused butter to treat it for laminitis, a foot disease that causes painful swelling. "She said it was like a new horse afterwards," he told me.
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http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/medical-marijuana-pets-dogs-cats-horses
Wild Marijuana is for the Birds
Midwest game has gone to “pot” — for both cover and food. Problem: spraying could devastate game populations.
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Missouri conservation agent Steve Kramer with wild hemp, found on 5 to 10 million acres in Midwest.
Upland game is going to pot in the Midwest. And if hunters and conservationists are not careful, upland-game hunting could do the same.
The pot that the game is going to is marijuana or wild hemp, often called “pot” by its high-flying advocates. It grows as a weed in many Midwestern States. Marijuana is classified as a dangerous plant by the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, a subagency of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Nine out of 10 hunters probably couldn’t care less whether marijuana lives or dies. However, marijuana is one of the Midwest’s most valuable cover plants for upland game, and some of the proposals for eradicating it could have terribly damaging effect on all other upland-game cover. And cover is the name of the hunting game. No cover means no game and no hunting.
Marijuana occurs mixed in with other edge weeds in field borders,
gullies, corners, stream bottoms, fence rows — the traditional cover areas for upland game. If a broadleaf herbicide were applied indiscriminately, perhaps from airplanes, upland game would be hit with a real haymaker.
“To be sure, the proposed hemp (marijuana) control program would not reduce Nebraska’s population of bobwhite quail to zero, but it is equally certain that such ecologic changes in the plant communities would reduce their capacity to support bobwhites and other valuable species.”
And there are plenty of bobwhites in the hemp, as well as pheasants and rabbits. On a few trips through the rustling marijuana stalks, my hunting buddies and I saw enough quail to blow the mind of any bird hunter.
“In 47 counties reporting,” says communications specialist Jack Merwin of the Department of Game, Fish and Parks, “there are about 9,000 acres of marijuana mixed with other weeds. Of this total, 7,000 acres are brushy areas, draws, lowlands, and tree areas where it wouldn’t be practical to spray with machinery or airplanes — meaning that any eradication program would involve spraying by hand and would therefore be relatively expensive. Quite obviously, marijuana is found in idle areas of prime game habitat, and for that reason this department would be very concerned about any massive spray program.”
“There are no plans at state level to eliminate hemp from the Iowa countryside. Its benefit to wildlife far outweighs its bad effects. Our department is concerned about the loss of anything that provides habitat for game. We must discourage any and all attempts to cement and paint everything green. We also feel that there is a possibility that what grows in place of hemp might well be less desirable than Iowa native hemp.”
An old hunting buddy of mine, Foster Sadler, a Raytown schoolteacher and I had been planning a northwest Missouri hunting trip for a long time. But we didn’t get around to it until the marijuana alarm provided a good excuse to go.
We arrived in Rock Port late one night in November 1970 with my car full of shotguns, shells, cameras, and two tired hunters. By 8 a.m. the next day, I saw for myself two things that Kramer had claimed: 1) that marijuana is everywhere, and 2) that so are pheasants and quail.
My highs, freakouts, trips, and the like come from seeing a gamebird pinned to the bead of my shotgun, so I didn’t know marijuana from bird’s-foot trefoil until Kramer pointed it out to me. It was no trick to find it after that. In fact, Foster and I walked through so much of it that day it’s a wonder we didn’t float home just from the close association. But that’s where the birds were.
Marijuana at one time was loved by all. It was introduced into North America from Quebec southward and during World War II was grown widely for its fibers, which are used in the manufacture of rope. Hemp farms no longer exist, but the plant spread through the Midwest from the start.
Estimates of the cost to destroy marijuana are about $25 per acre. How many farmers are going to lay out that kind of money to destroy something that does not hinder their farming operation? If they are to be subsidized, who will pick up the tab?
Multiply 10-million acres by $25 and add in the cost to wildlife, and it becomes obvious that the cost of an eradication program would be depressingly large.
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http://www.globalhemp.com/1971/06/marijuana-is-for-the-birds.html
Seen At 11: Medical Marijuana For Your Furry Friends -
Some Pet Owners Have Looked To Cannabis To Treat Their Sick Pets
(11/22/2013) |
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — When it comes to sick pets many owners will go to great lengths to help them feel better.
Now, some have started to take matters into their own hands and have turned to a remedy that isn’t even legal in some states, CBS 2’s Maurice Dubois reported Friday.
Rowyn Capers’ dog, “Luna,” was suffering from late-stage lymphoma and was put on an intense schedule of chemotherapy. The treatments came with devastating side effects.
“Her lymph nodes were like golf balls and she was coughing constantly and she couldn’t breath and I just thought it’s time to say goodbye,” Capers said.
Capers gave Luna medical marijuana to help ease her suffering.
“The first time I dosed her I was so scared. We were looking at her all night,” Capers said, “The more I increased her cannabis dose the less side effects that she had. The vomiting stopped, the diarrhea stopped.”
The cannabis came in the form of a concentrated oil in a capsule. Capers said the results have been remarkable.
“When you see them enjoying life and feeling better and not being sick you know you’ve hit something,” she said.
Certified animal behaviorist Darlene Arden is a strong advocate for the use of medical marijuana on pets. She called cannabis a “legitimate medication.”
“I think we can now see marijuana for exactly what it is and what it can do. Not a street drug but a legitimate medication to be used under proper supervision,” she said.
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http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/11/22/seen-at-11-medical-marijuana-for-your-furry-friends/
A Sign of the Times: Medical Marijuana Use and Veterinary Medicine
(07/15/2013) |
You knew it was going to happen. With more states considering and approving medical marijuana use for people, you knew the questions would start coming about the use of medical marijuana in veterinary medicine. And, boy, did they come. And they aren’t stopping.
Reporters from news outlets around the country have contacted the AVMA’s Media Relations Department asking about the association’s stance on the use of medical marijuana in veterinary settings.
While the AVMA doesn’t yet have an official position on the issue, staff members in our Scientific Activities Division have been able to assist these reporters by focusing on a few consistent messages, such as:
Veterinarians making treatment decisions must use sound clinical judgment and current medical information, and must be in compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations.
Medications do not necessarily work the same in animals as they do people, which underscores the value of extensive studies showing safety and efficacy, and also the value of the FDA’s approval process for drugs used in animals.
There are possibilities of adverse reactions, including toxicities and failure to treat the clinical condition at hand.
What are you hearing? Are your clients asking about the use of medical marijuana and its derivatives? Have you discussed its use with your clients? This is a topic that is going to attract increased attention as more and more states consider whether to legalize the use of medical marijuana. We’d love to hear your thoughts about it, and you can share them by clicking on the “Leave a reply?” button above.
If you’re looking for more information on the topic and what’s being said in some veterinary circles, check out Scott Nolen’s recent article in JAVMA News. It brings up some great questions about medical marijuana use, as veterinarians, their clients and the AVMA do their best to come up with some answers.
Topics: Animal Health, Drugs and Vaccines, Scientific Issues
... Medical Cannabis works!
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http://atwork.avma.org/2013/07/15/a-sign-of-the-times-medical-marijuana-use-and-veterinary-medicine/
Medical marijuana being tried on pets in pain (6/5/2013) |
Until she introduced "magic cheese" to her sick and aging bulldog, Laura Bugni-Daniel watched him suffer for two years. He'd spend his days lying down or throwing up.
Today, at age 12, he plays like a puppy through the day and he sleeps at night, soothed not by magic but by the dose of marijuana in the cheese.
Bugni-Daniel is part of a growing movement to give medical marijuana to pets in pain. Many urge caution until there's better science behind it.
But stories abound of changes in sick and dying pets after they've been given cannabis - even though it isn't a proven painkiller for man or beast.
It's also an illicit drug under federal law, despite being legal for people in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Leading the charge is Los Angeles veterinarian Doug Kramer, 36, who felt it was his duty to speak out.
"I grew tired of euthanising pets when I wasn't doing everything I could to make their lives better," he said.
Pot eased his Siberian husky's pain during her final weeks, after she had surgery to remove tumours. Not only did the dog stop whimpering, but she started eating, gaining weight and meeting him at the door again.
Visit:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10889038
also at
Medical Marijuana For Pets Recommended By Veterinarian Doug Kramer
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... an emergency and critical care vet at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the ... Some pet owners support medical marijuana for animals.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/medical-marijuana-for-pets_n_3391770.html
MAP: Cannabis - Medicinal
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news from MAP. Such as ... PUB LTE: National Pets Group Backs Medical Marijuan. Thu, 09 ...
Marijuana Party Cannabis Cannabis - California Cannabis - Canada Cannabis - Medicinal
Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada ..... visit:
www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm
The MarijuanaNews.Com - Original Marijuana Blog
- with Richard Cowan, "Freedom has nothing to fear from the truth"
... No US Jails Allow Medical Cannabis. No Appeals Left ... California Nurses Association -- Representing 30,000 Registered Nurses -- Urges Judge Breyer Not to Wait For Appeals ... visit:
www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/medical_cannabis.htm
Announcing Medical Marijuana for Critters;
Canna-Pet Introduces Therapeutic Cannabis for Canines and Kitties
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Medical marijuana has been in the news a great deal during the last few years, as the human health care community is slowly but surely getting on board with the benefits this has for people who suffer from a variety of ailments, from cancer to glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and more.
In fact, there are now medical marijuana clinics operating in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and in 2012 pot was legalized for recreational use in Washington State and Colorado.
So if humans can receive benefits from medicinal pot, why not pets?
That is the philosophy of a Seattle-based company called Canna-Pet, which in late 2013 introduced the first medical marijuana supplement for dogs and cats that is legal, safe and available over the counter.
Here is some history about the company, and their amazing product.
Medical Marijuana for Pets Was Many Years in the Making
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Canna-Pet was developed by husband and wife veterinarians doctors Sarah Brandon and Greg Copas, and MIT-educated entrepreneur Dan Goldfarb, and took years of clinical research and refinement.
“It took about 15 years between the three of us; I got on board about six years ago,” Dr. Sarah said. “Dan was really interested in the biochemical aspect. We first conducted clinical trials on our own pets, then friends’ pets, and discovered that it was really helping our critters.”
... Pet Shops,
All About Pet Supplies,
Pet Health Products ...
>>
http://petshops.about.com/od/Natural-Pet-Products/fl/Announcing-Medical-Marijuana-for-Critters.htm
What About Hemp?
Canna-Pet™ Alternative to Medical Cannabis for Dogs & Cats
- Canna-Pet.com
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All Natural,
Medical Cannabis (Hemp) for Dogs and Cats. Refined from hemp, legal, OTC and non psychoactive - No THC, Heals your pet without the high. NOT Medical "Marijuana" for Pets, but true Medicine.
Hemp has been safely and effectively used as a naturopathic medicine for thousands of years. Phytocannabinoids, terpenoids, and flavonoids are compounds in cannabis that naturally interact with the nervous and immune systems of animals.
Safe
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Industrial Hemp is naturally rich in therapeutic compounds - especially cannabidiol (CBD). The only documented side effects are mild sedation. Using hemp ensures your pet will not get "high" or in trouble with the law.
Veterinarian Recommended
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Developed in an international collaboration of scientists, medical researchers, and veterinarians, Canna-Pet™ is the first legal cannabinoid (CBD) product designed specifically for cats and dogs. Now available over-the-counter.
Do I need a Prescription?
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Canna-Pet™ is available over the counter in all 50 states, and 34 countries - there are no authorizations or prescriptions required. Canna-Pet™ is NOT a pharmaceutical with strict administration guidelines and severe side-effects. It is a very benign, natural remedy and you can administer it with confidence.
Will this get my pet "high"?
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No, our products have no psychoactive effect, they are made with industrial hemp.
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http://canna-pet.com/
Medical Marijuana for ... Dogs? - MarijuanaDoctors.com
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Posted by Jason Draizin on 11/14/2011 in Medical Marijuana Trends >>
It’s hard to imagine a Boston terrier taking a bong rip or a poodle puffing on a joint. But according to New York-based dog training site, TheDo.gs, medical marijuana is a-OK for pups. At least according to one writer’s vet.
In a piece called Marijuana Goes to the Dogs, writer Amy Roa recalls her veterinarian explaining that smoking marijuana is actually ok for dogs, as long as they don’t eat it.
“No judgments, but it’s perfectly ok for your dog to smoke marijuana,” Roa recalled her vet saying. “He can even take bong hits. He just can’t eat it.”
Ms. Roa’s vet isn’t the only doggie doc to say marijuana isn’t bad for dogs. Dr. Steven Radbill, co-author of The Complete Book of Questions Dog Owners Ask Their Vet and the Answers and owner of the Radbill Animal Hospital in Philadelphia has said, “Marijuana is not bad for dogs in the sense that it will harm them. But, like people, marijuana would probably make some dogs lose some of their judgment.”
It sounds a little silly, but with medical marijuana alleviating everything from cancer to chronic pain to HIV/AIDS and countless other medical conditions, it only makes sense that humans aren’t the only warm blooded creatures that cannabis is beneficial for.
It’s important to note that dogs should never eat marijuana. It can cause severe neurological problems and high enough doses could even be fatal. However, thebark.com reports that marijuana ingestion is a common occurrence with dogs, and that “even in extreme cases, the vast majority of animals recover fully and death very rarely occurs.”
But smoking it, on the other hand, has been said to be safe. Obviously your four-legged friend will need assistance, but a puff of marijuana could be a natural alternative to help alleviate chronic pain or other ailments. Or, as Roa points out in her piece, dog owners could soon have an alternative cannabis solution for their pups’ pain relief: a medical marijuana patch.
Jim Alekson's Seattle-based company, Medical Marijuana Delivery Systems LLC, has patented a pot patch for pooches called Tetracan, which can also be used on cats and horses. This patch and was designed for use for medical conditions from cancer to arthritis. There are a few logistics to sort out before the patch hits the shelves, such as the amending of state marijuana laws to include pets as qualifying recipients of medical marijuana, and veterinarians to be included as qualifying medical professionals who can recommend marijuana to their patients.
In the end, pet owners should seek advice from their vets before using cannabis to treat their pets. And of course they should follow their state’s guidelines for medical marijuana. But it’s interesting to consider that perhaps cannabis, long considered a miracle cure-all, isn’t just for people. It’s for pets, too. What do you think? Would you use pot with your pet?
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www.marijuanadoctors.com/blog/Medical-marijuana
Birds and Marijuana - Buy Dutch Seeds
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We usually think of birds as of lovely and nice creatures we just love to see on our windowsill or in our garden. However, when you have precious marijuana plants in your backyard, you will surely want the birds to stay away from your perimeters, because most of these beautiful flying creatures enjoy in chopping your plants, more particularly on the seeds. As soon as you put seeds on the prepared soil, the flying danger will come and attack the seeds, leaving you without anything to grow. Or, when the plants start to develop seeds for the next harvest they will come to munch directly of the plants and remove seeds for the next generation.
However, the safest way to protect your marijuana plants is to provide the food for the birds yourself. If you feed the birds before they even arrive to your marijuana, they will not have interest to destroy your precious plants. You should place bird feeders around your backyard and make sure that the feeders are repleted with plenty of the food for the birds, meaning variety of the seeds.
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www.buydutchseeds.com/blog/birds-and-marijuana
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