Cannabis and Edibles
A wobbly, dribbling, dazed dog may have found cannabis. Most recover, but edibles add chocolate or xylitol, and the signs look like antifreeze. Tell your vet.
Written by thecanineledger
This page carries no advertising, and nothing on it is for sale.
If your dog has eaten cannabis in any form (an edible, a joint, oil, or plant material): phone your vet or an animal poison helpline now. Tell them exactly what it was, and whether it contained chocolate, raisins or a sweetener. Go now if your dog can’t stand, is very drowsy or hard to wake, is having a seizure or tremors, or is vomiting while drowsy.
In a 2021 survey of 251 veterinarians in Canada and the US, the number of cannabis poisoning cases in pets “increased significantly” in both countries after October 2018, the month Canada legalised cannabis (Amissah et al., PLOS ONE 2022).
The same survey has better news. Its authors concluded that “Most pets that experienced cannabis toxicosis recovered completely”.
While most dogs who eat cannabis recover, the risk lies in what came with it, and in what the vet doesn’t know. This page sets out the signs, why edibles are the bigger worry, and why honesty with your vet matters.
1. The signs
A review by the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe and colleagues gives “A classic presentation”: “a depressed or ataxic dog that is dribbling urine” (De Briyne et al., Animals 2021). Ataxic means wobbly and uncoordinated.
The veterinarians in the North American survey most often reported:
- urinary incontinence (dribbling urine)
- disorientation
- unsteadiness
- lethargy
- over-sensitivity to touch or sound
- a slow heart rate
How soon, and for how long. De Briyne writes that “the onset of clinical signs in cases of marijuana toxicosis typically occurs within 30–90 min of exposure and can last up to 96 h”.
Smaller dogs are more at risk. The review notes that “Smaller dogs are particularly susceptible due to the smaller amount required to produce clinical signs.”
Our note: The go-now list is our wording. The vomiting point is based on the review’s mention of inhaling vomit as a complication.
→ Emergency Signs in Dogs: When to Go Now, Not Tomorrow
2. Why edibles are the bigger worry
Most cases involve food. In the survey, “Edibles were most commonly suspected to be the cause of toxicosis”. De Briyne agrees that dog cases “stem most commonly from exposure to edibles”.
The other ingredients. De Briyne warns that with edibles “there may be additional toxic ingredients involved—such as chocolate, raisins, or xylitol—which result in a poorer prognosis.” Each of those is a poisoning in its own right.
→ Foods That Are Toxic to Dogs, With the Actual Evidence · → Xylitol: Where It Hides, and Why Minutes Matter · → Grapes and Raisins: What We Know, and the Tartaric Acid Question
Deaths are rare, and hard to pin on cannabis. The surveyed vets reported 16 deaths. The authors are cautious: they “cannot be certain that exposure to cannabis directly resulted in mortality, or that the presence of other toxins found in edible products (e.g., chocolate, xylitol), or other underlying medical conditions contributed to the fatalities.” De Briyne notes that reported deaths “appear to be the result of associated complications, such as aspiration”. Aspiration means breathing vomit into the lungs.
Synthetic cannabinoids are a different matter. De Briyne notes they “can have a higher potency than THC.”
3. Why your vet needs the truth
Cannabis looks like other poisonings. De Briyne: “Cannabis toxicosis can look similar to intoxication with numerous other sedatives, with the most common and serious of those being anti-freeze poisoning (i.e., ethylene glycol) or ivermectin toxicosis.” Antifreeze poisoning needs urgent and very different treatment.
The tests aren’t reliable. Diagnosis usually rests on the history and the signs. The survey authors note that the quick urine drug tests used in practice “may be prone to false positive or false negative test results”.
So what you tell your vet is often the diagnosis. The survey authors note that vets must rely on a history “which may not always be completely honest due to the stigma which continues to surround cannabis, despite legalization.”
Our note: Your vet’s job is to treat your dog. Confidentiality rules differ by country, so we make no legal promise.
4. What treatment usually looks like
In the survey, “the most common treatment was outpatient monitoring”. Most pets were treated without a hospital stay. Sicker dogs may need to be kept in, kept warm and monitored, and treated for any other ingredient they ate.
Our note: “Kept warm and monitored” is our summary of supportive care.
Don’t make your dog sick at home. A dog who is drowsy or unsteady can breathe vomit into the lungs.
Our note: Not making a drowsy dog vomit at home is our reasoning, linked to the risk of inhaling vomit.
→ My Dog Ate Something: Why You Shouldn’t Make Them Vomit Without a Vet
5. CBD products for pets
Products sold as CBD or hemp are not necessarily free of THC, the intoxicating part of cannabis. De Briyne notes that “the lack of industry-wide quality control can result in an animal’s exposure to hemp or CBD products contaminated with THC or toxins, such as heavy metals or pesticides, that may cause harm.”
If your dog is unwell after a CBD product, tell your vet what it was, as you would for any other.
6. What we could not verify
| Commonly said | What we found |
|---|---|
| “Cannabis can’t hurt a dog” | It can. Most dogs recover completely, but signs can last up to 96 hours, and edibles may contain chocolate, raisins or xylitol. |
| “Cannabis kills dogs” | Rarely, if ever, on its own. The survey authors could not say cannabis itself caused the 16 reported deaths. |
| “The vet can test for it” | Not reliably. Quick urine tests can give false results. The history you give is often the diagnosis. |
| “CBD for pets has no THC” | Not guaranteed. A 2021 review warns that products may be contaminated with THC. |
| “It’s only an issue where it’s legal” | We found no source we could read that settles this. |
Sources
- Amissah RQ, Vogt NA, Chen C, Urban K, Khokhar J. Prevalence and characteristics of cannabis-induced toxicoses in pets: Results from a survey of veterinarians in North America. PLoS One 2022: online survey of 251 veterinarians
- De Briyne N, Holmes D, Sandler I, Stiles E, et al. Cannabis, Cannabidiol Oils and Tetrahydrocannabinol: What Do Veterinarians Need to Know? Animals (Basel) 2021: narrative review
Always confirm with your vet before acting on anything on this page.