(Poor little cute dog got sick from just a "harmless" little joint butt --nb)By Chantal Eustace, Vancouver Sun
Lola, a long-haired chihuahua ingested toxins, recently. Although they could not confirm it, veterinarians believe she may have swallowed marijuana.
Continues...
Lola's tail is limp, her body convulses and her tongue hangs out.
She can't walk straight and she can barely hold her three-kilogram body upright.
According to staff at the emergency clinic, my chihuahua has very likely ingested marijuana.
That can be fatal, I learn.
She wouldn't be the only canine to suffer from a munch on some cannabis and end up on a vet's table, confused and sick.
Veterinarian Christine Loomis at the Vancouver Animal Emergency Clinic says it's an all-too-common pet predicament, as she shines a light into Lola's spaced-out eyeballs.
It's also the first thing the veterinary assistant asks as she initially assesses Lola.
Has she had access to pot? No.
Has she been off-leash? Er, yes.
Even the discarded butt of a joint, possibly found in the sand at Kitsilano beach during Lola's morning jaunt, could be the culprit.
She could have sniffed out a bit of Mary Jane anywhere -- she is a West Coast mutt, after all.
The 24-hour emergency clinic's hospital director, veterinarian Suann Hosie, says dogs seem to be attracted to cannabis.
"They'll go after roaches and little bits and they seem to be attracted to it -- almost the same way that cats are attracted to catnip," says Hosie, who's been treating dogs who've gotten into marijuana since the '70s.
The clinic treats a few cases each month, she says.
"Some can have life-threatening convulsions," says Hosie, adding symptoms also include vomiting, diarrhea, drifting in and out of sleep and dehydration.
"Knock on wood, we haven't seen any die," says Hosie.
"But what if they got into a real large chunk of, say, hash and it was a little dog? They could die in the middle of the night and nobody would know if they were alone."
To make matters worse for man's best friend, marijuana is stronger than ever.
THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is up from about three per cent in the '60s and '70s to between 15 and 20 per cent, according to Vancouver police.
Combine this with a surge in the popularity of urban-friendly, pocket-sized pooches, who are attracted to weed and it's a recipe for seriously sick puppies.
Kingsway Vet Clinic owner veterinarian Paul Koit says he's seen this type of case climb over the years ever since he opened shop in 1978.
The severity of the case depends on the size of the dog and the amount and strength of the marijuana ingested, he says.
"There is something called a toxic or lethal dose that would kill them," says Koit, pausing to look up this ratio. The deadly sum? About three grams of THC per kilogram of body weight.
"Now this is about 1,000 times higher than what we call just a behavioural or effective dose, when they start showing clinical signs," says Koit.
"They need to ingest 1,000 times of that amount before it becomes lethal. So there is a very wide margin of safety," he says. "It's rarely fatal."
But "life-threatening convulsions" are nothing to take lightly.
At the Vancouver Animal Emergency Clinic, an assistant tries to follow Lola's staggering gait outside to collect a urine sample to test it for drugs. But she isn't fast enough with the tray.
So while her symptoms pointed to pot, Lola's official records remain clean: they simply note she was treated for a "toxin."
Two doses of activated charcoal and 12 hours of worrying later, Lola's tail wags. Her legs stop wobbling.
A stoner no more, Lola just wants a bowl of kibble.
ceustace@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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