Nausea, wobbling, confusion: Dogs get sick from thrown grass

In places where recreational use is legal, dogs get sick from eating the remains of joints and other cannabis products, say veterinarians and poison control centers.< /p>

A recent weekend, Lola Star's dog, Dazzle, a barely 2-year-old mini goldendoodle, ate a seal she found on the ground in Staten Island. It wasn't the first or even the 10th time the dog had done this, Ms Star said with a long sigh.

She hadn't seen this happen. happen, but there was a telltale sign. "I was pulling her out of the car and I saw her little head bobbing," said Ms Star, who lives in the Prospect Park South neighborhood of Brooklyn. "That's when you know your dog is stoned."

His dog isn't the only unwitting weed consumer. Now that marijuana is widely available in New York — after the city legalized recreational use of the drug by adults in 2021 and the first legal dispensary opened in December — vets say they've recently noticed an increase constant number of dog cases. accidentally eating cannabis products. And pet owners say their dogs run into more used or abandoned objects on streets and sidewalks during walks.

Veterinarians who had used to see a case once a month now say they see several a week. Although most dogs recover, the symptoms can be frightening: loss of balance and difficulty walking, nausea, drowsiness, and even hallucinations. And some owners don't see right away when their dog eats a little leftover smoked joint during a walk.

ImageOff-leash hours at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. Dog owners say they need to be more vigilant about cannabis in the field. Curious animals away from trash, food and other sidewalk hazards, weed is a new hazard that's suddenly everywhere, Ms. Star said. And so dogs like Dazzle get sick again and again.

"It's always been a small problem, but lately we're seeing an increase in cases now that marijuana has been legalized here" in New York City, said Dr. Gabrielle Fadl, director of primary care at Bond Vet, which has offices throughout the East Coast.

There There are no hard numbers on how many dogs pick it up from the street, but data shows they get sick from weed more often in places where recreational use is legal.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> The trend is not exclusive to New York. Over the past six years, there has been a more than 400% increase in calls about marijuana poisoning to the Pet Poison Helpline, a 24-hour pet poison center – with most being reported in New York and California. Last year, the A.S.P.C.A. responded to nearly 7,000 marijuana toxicity calls, an 11% increase over the previous year.

Here's what to do if this happens to your pet.

Call a veterinarian or poison control hotline.

Veterinarians have reported seeing instances of pets eating marijuana in various forms: flowers, dropped joints, edibles, and even vape cartridges.

The best protection is to train your dog to leave these items alone. When they do...