Q&A

Can dogs die from an overdose of edible THC?


Although cannabis can cause acute intoxication and illness in dogs, as with humans there is little or no chance of consuming enough to be lethal. From a year ago in the NY Times:
"Tina Wismer, the medical director of the A.S.P.C.A.’s national animal poison control center, said she did not know of a single death from a dog eating marijuana that did not also involve chocolate, which is highly toxic. But a few have come close."
I’d agree that cannabis infused butter in chocolate and similar foods used as the vehicle for edible cannabis are a bigger danger, as the minimum lethal dose of THC in dogs has been reported as >3grams/kg (although a dog was reported to survive 26.8g/kg which is 10 times more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14748410?dopt=abstract)

drelkind


I hate to admit it, but my dog once got into a bag of infused pretzels. So easy to do if you leave them in your bag, as a friend of mine did while visiting my house. My dog weights 150 pounds thankfully and so was probably not overdosed.

I came home to discover what had happened a couple of hours after she had eaten them, and I happened to be far away from our regular vet. In any event, I decided to drive her home and see how she did, since I read online that most treatment is either a) induce vomiting or b) treat symptomatically and keep the dog hydrated and calm.

By the time we arrived home it was well passed the point that inducing vomiting would make a difference, so I just kept her calm. She lay on the grassy lawn and did not want to move, drink or eat. I felt really bad about what had happened. She lay there without changing location for the rest of the night, but in the morning seemed fine (as if nothing had happened at all).

My learnings: 1) keep your edibles away from dogs and children, especially when brought to your house by a friend. 2) Induce vomiting if you get there in time. 3) Keep the dog calm and treat symptomatically.

Final thought: if the dog was smaller, it may have well been a fatal dose.

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