Have no choice to include a caveat in this blog – this is a discussion – not a suggestion of treatment. I’m not telling you to treat your dog with THC. But one of the sad realities for our our pets is that cannabis is illegal for them. Many vets are interested in it, but aren’t allowed to even discuss it’s use with dogs. Do some of your own research for the sake of your dog. When it comes to use of THC or CBD use, they can’t depend on their vet. All owners have is anecdotal evidence from other owners and their success stories – and there is a mountain of evidence to climb.
Understand, you’re trying to find a minimum dose of THC that calms the brain – but doesn’t make the dog “stoned”. You want calming effect, not psychotropic. Many times, that takes anywhere from 0.5 mg, to 2 mg depending on the dog – size, tolerance etc. There are many variables – start low and take it up a notch at a time.
I would personally prefer a dog be on something natural versus a pharma like prozac or trazadone. My dog will be taking THC and CBD likely for the rest of his life – and I’m fine with that. He has a lump on his front left wrist that develops when he’s not on cannabis and the vet isn’t sure what to think of it.
Pet store CBD oil is actually illegal in Canada and the US, how do they get away with selling it? Pet store CBD is made from hemp – different plant. Hemp contains some 30 cannabinoids, where real cannabis contains over 100 cannabinoids and they are not fully understood yet. THC and CBD are only 2 of these cannabinoids. Human grade CBD from cannabis is made in a lab environment under stricter measures – the CBD oil you buy in a pet store has no restrictions, and questionable techniques for extraction.
Many “studies” done on dogs with THC are combined with some other drug – like trazadone or prozac. These aren’t fair studies. Cannabis makes people feel good – it raises your endorphin and dopamine levels – and they naturally reduce cortisol. The dogs brain works the same – if it didn’t, then human drugs would have no effect. When people are stressed and they smoke or ingest, it’s calming. So why do we overlook the dog when it comes to THC?
Interesting study here – none of the dogs died and they were given high doses of THC or CBD – no other drugs were used. This is just one study, there are others out there. Bear in mind, some of the studies are combining CBD or THC with other drugs like trazadone and prozac.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00051/full
Now, bear in mind as you read the charts – some of these dogs were dosed with 52 mg of THC per kilogram of dog. My dog is 4 kg – he would be given 200 mg of THC? I’m looking at what 2 mg of THC will do to a large dog. The average joint a human would smoke ranges from 60 to 150 mg of THC.
Here’s something that people need to understand. Green or fresh cannabis doesn’t contain THC – it contains THCA. Cannabis needs to be heated to convert THCA to THC. Bake it in the oven to decarboxylate it – do that conversion. Then use oil or butter in a stock pot with the cooked weed. Strain and you have something to cook with – no smoking necessary.
So, after reading all this – I would be more nervous about the cooked butter and oil in what the dog swallowed – the THC load doesn’t bother me. Oil and butter – that can lead to pancreatitis, and that can kill a dog. The dog ate a plate of THC laced brownies? I’m sorry but the question has to be asked – what was more likely to kill the dog.
Vets for the most have people terrified of THC and dogs. But, why the fear? Chew on it for a while…
Many children are being treated with high THC or high CBD oil for various medical conditions from cancer to seizures etc. Where do you think CBD oil came from? The original CBD is called “Charlotte’s Web” for a reason, it’s named after a little girl named Charlotte Figi – and her story is heart breaking. She has Dravet syndrome which caused near constant seizures but the CBD near stopped it cold when other heavy pharma had no effect. Another young girl is taking 1/3 of an ounce of high THC cannabis oil twice a day to treat her leukemia – she says it makes her happy and hungry.
Other studies show that it takes up to 3 grams per kilogram of dog to be harmful to a dog. Doing the math, my 10 pound dog would need to ingest 1/2 an ounce of high THC “activated” cannabis to be harmful. That’s alot of cannabis. To my knowledge, there has never been one case of human death as a direct result of cannabis use. Other pharma can’t say that. Big pharma doesn’t like other drugs cutting into their profit margins – especially when so many can grow it at home. There are reasons that cannabis is illegal for dogs. That leaves owners with a whole lot of misinformation, and fear surrounding its use.
All animals have an endocannabinoid system, every cell in our bodies have receptors. Dogs have a stronger system than humans, yes, they are more sensitive to it. Small amounts of THC will have positive effects on dogs without harm or making them stoned.
Green cannabis (flower, bud, whatever you call it) doesn’t contain any THC – a dog or human could eat a green cannabis plant and not become “stoned”. Green cannabis contains THCa – a cannabinoid that needs to be converted to THC using heat. It’s called carboxylation. This is the reason cannabis is smoked, cooked or simply heated in the oven – no heat, no psychotropic effects. THCa becomes THC.
My Miniature Pinscher is 10 pounds and he gets cannabis oil twice a day for medical issues. He’s on a product called “Reign Drops” from Redecan, contains 15 mg/ml of CBD, and about 0.7 mg/ml of THC. Twice a day he gets about 1/3 of a ml or 1/3 of a gram. Doing the math, that’s about 10 mg of CBD, and about 0.5 mg/ml of THC.
I would have zero issues increasing the amount of THC that he takes in if it was necessary.
Monty has a lump that forms on his front left wrist, the vets aren’t really sure what it is. It causes him pain when it forms and I found that when he is on the Cannabis oil, the lump shrinks and disappears. If I take him off the oil, the lump grows back. He will like be on the oil for the rest of his life, and I don’t mind at all. I wouldn’t recommend something that I don’t use. Sometimes I put it in his mouth, other times on food.
A lady called me last week, she has two dogs. One dog went through a traumatic experience during shipping from the USA as a puppy. The airline somehow misplaced her in the crate – and she spent 2 days confined, no food or water and covered in pee and poop. She never got over it and it’s been a year and a half. This is not separation anxiety, this is fear of being alone.
She tried straight CBD oil without any THC in the product. It had no real effect which really got me to thinking. She is the only client that didn’t buy the recommended Redecan product. She ended up finding the Redecan Reign Drops with a small amount of THC and now she’s noticing a difference. Just that tiny amount of THC brought her out of her shell, she’s become more cuddly and is sleeping through the night. And isn’t as reactive when left alone. Is it the tiny amount of THC the dog is taking in? There systems are more sensitive?
I have a client that found great differences in his dogs – and good nights sleep on the regular low THC oil. But now he’s trying a little bit higher THC oil. He gave all 4 dogs high CBD – but 1 ml of the oil contains 1.1 mg/ml/g of THC instead of the original 0.7 mg/ml. He said it calmed the dogs immensely within 20 minutes. Now he’s going to try straight CBD with no THC to see if there is a difference.
Cannabis is amazing stuff, and people really should take the time to research it instead of listening to all the fear surrounding it.