A shoreline veterinarian is putting out a warning after she said two dogs that she treats were rushed to animal hospitals in the last five days for likely ingesting marijuana.
John Bruno said he took his most 2-year-old dog Jodi on her regular three-mile walk in Old Saybrook and to his neighbor’s house, which was nothing out of the ordinary.
But Monday night he had to rush her to the Pieper Veterinary Madison’s emergency center.
“She was very lethargic and it was almost like having a seizure. It seemed like she had a stroke and it scared the daylights out of me,” Bruno said.
Usually Jodi is an active dog.
“She was twitching, and she’d jump, and she was very nervous. The vet looked at her and he said it could be something neurological, but I’m willing to bet, I’m 98 percent sure that she ingested marijuana,” Bruno said.
Bruno had no idea where Jodi found it.
Local
Pieper Veterinary Marketing Manager Jesse Ferguson confirmed the center did see a dog that ingested marijuana.
Jodi’s regular vet, Dr. Kathy Clark, of Clark Veterinary Hospital in Old Lyme, has the paperwork and confirmed it, too.
Clark said two of her four-legged canine patients were rushed to animal hospitals for likely marijuana ingestion over the past five days after being out for a walk. The other dog was walking in Niantic, Clark said.
“It’s suggesting we are going to see more problems where marijuana’s available fairly close,” Clark said, adding she’s seen more cases since medicinal marijuana was legalized in Connecticut.
Clark also said both young dogs had symptoms come on very quickly and it’s important to keep a closer eye on your pup.
“If they’re really sniffing something under the bench, pull them out because there may be something in there they shouldn’t be getting into,” Clark said.
It’s something Bruno is already aware of but said he’s going to pay extra close attention to.
“It was painful just watching her trembling, having these tremors, just not being herself,” he said.
Jodi is about 80 percent back to her normal behaviors.
Dr. Carol Himsel, an emergency and critical care doctor at Pieper Veterinary Madison said their doctors do see cases of dogs ingesting marijuana about once a week. Before medicinal marijuana became legal in Connecticut, that number was around once a month, she said.
Symptoms for a dog could include suddenly being uncoordinated and stumbling, tremors, potentially reactive to sounds and light, dilated pupils, and dogs often vomit because THC is powerful in dogs, according to Himsel.
The Pet Poison Helpline said in the last six years, Pet Poison Helpline experienced a 448 percent increase in marijuana cases. More information can be found here.
