People Are Giving Their Pets Medical Marijuana

[BainsBane]

"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. Most people use cannabis to treat their dogs and cats for pain, seizures, and inflammation stemming from arthritis. About 20 percent of phone calls to Kramer's office now come from other cannabis-curious vets."

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/medical-marijuana-pets-dogs-cats-horses

Side effect: Bad case of the munchies.

[Warren DeMontague]

1. I want to know why catnip doesn't make *people* go crazy, rub it all over their faces, and roll

around in it on the kitchen floor in semi-ecstatic spasms.

No, seriously. What's up with that?

[BainsBane]

2. Dunno

I'm sure a science person could tell you.

There is lots of stuff in the garden that will make you stoned though. When I lived in Florida I had trumpet flowers in my garden. There was a craze of kids smoking it. A number ended up overdosing and dying.

Nutmeg will make you stoned if you eat enough of it, or so I've read.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Yes, I've heard that nutmeg can induce powerful hallucinations as well as powerful nausea.

Not, from accounts I've read, a particularly pleasant high.

Good thing in my errant, wayward youth we had the old fashioned standbys, I never had the inclination go on a serious Penzey's bender.

Still, it's an interesting ... effect that catnip has on the feline brain, and it does seem to be exclusive to cats. It's weird.

It doesn't surprise me that other mammals might have cannabinoid receptors just like we do, although I do wonder how much of this is really "medical marijuana for pets" and not "let's get whiskers and bosco high"

[BainsBane]

5. or getting the ganja in Fido's name

and smoking it themselves.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. If we're at the point where people are getting fake notes from their vets to score kind bud

it really is time to re-evaluate the drug war.

[BainsBane]

8. I would have thought

the bodies littering the border and inner cities and world's largest prison population would have prompted such an evaluation, but not so.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. I think it's getting there. Slowly.

Lot of people invested in that gravy train, but I think the voices for sanity are louder than they've ever been.

[Politicalboi]

14. LOL! Damn dogs hog it all up

They never pass the joint either, and when you say something about it, they growl. I would think animals would take it in pill or liquid form, not smoking. Smoking is the "high", ingesting with no heating, or igniting is for pain only, no high. You have to heat MJ up for the high.

[Scootaloo]

4. Nutmeg doesn't get you stoned, it makes you trip balls.

You have to ingest a hell of a lot of it (imagine burping eggnog for a week) for it to have an effect, the trip is short (20 minutes to an hour) and it leaves you feeling like you got run over by a bunch of drunken frat kids, as the toxins settle into your muscles and ensure that you will never, ever again do something dumb like eat a whole jar of nutmeg

Don't do nutmeg, it just isn't worth it

[BainsBane]

6. I won't

I find life challenging enough straight. Nutmeg is my favorite spice though.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. Not all cats react to catnip. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

10. Interesting. Every one I've ever had, has loved it.

Like, party time in cat-town loved it.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. I had two that didn't...

the other four, however, loved it.

[Politicalboi]

12. You've never tried catnip?

You are missing out. Besides, you would be amazed what you may find under your refrigerator while rolling on the floor. It's a hoot!
Excuse me while I sharpen my nails on the rug.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. Okay, fine, I admit it

it was me who peed on the drapes.

[Recursion]

19. I've had catnip tea

It's "meh" at best.

[BainsBane]

25. What compelled you to make catnip tea?

There is definitely more to the story. Out with it.

[Recursion]

26. The presence of catnip, marjoram, and boiling water

That's really all there is to it.

[BainsBane]

27. LOL

Okay.

[In_The_Wind]

16. They seem to beg to taste the sweet smoke

[LostOne4Ever]

17. Guess we need to learn to keep our brownies safe then

[ZombieHorde]

18. I smoke my goldfish up all the time.

I often suspect he's just faking having glaucoma, but I don't judge.

[BainsBane]

21. Do you share the munchies with him afterward?

Goldfish do practice cannibalism.

[ZombieHorde]

22. Awesome. nt

[0rganism]

23. did you convert your goldfish bowl into a bong?

it could work!

[BainsBane]

24. could be dangerous

If he accidentally inhaled the little guy.

[Maine-ah]

20. My dog is 15 years old.

Black lab mix. I attribute her longevity to the contact highs she has had over the years.

[Bennyboy]

28. My Cat gets loaded all the time.....

?1302068473

[0rganism]

29. wasn't it about 10 years ago that putting pets on prozac was all the rage?

I'd 1000X rather smoke out with my dog than dose her with an SSRI. just sayin'.

[kestrel91316]

30. My cats don't like if I blow the smoke near them, but they also seem to want to hang out nearby.

And they will try to grab the brownies right out of my hand.

We don't know the safe dose, and if the DEA got wind of any vet doing this, their DEA registration could be in jeopardy. So I don't advise my clients to try it on kitties.