Dog poisoned by eating cannabis found in park
A DOG was poisoned after eating cannabis found on the ground during a walk in a park.
Hannah Alderman, 37, from Lakeside, had to rush her two-year-old Labrador Sonny to the emergency vets after he began behaving strangely after a walk in Nant Fawr Woods, Cardiff.
Hannah, who has two children aged nine and four, said Sonny started to have tremors, lose bladder control and couldn’t walk after ingesting the cannabis.
Hannah said: “My husband Ryan was walking him at the time and going for a run. It was quite muddy so Ryan went on the field side. On the side of the field, there’s a little stream and then there’s the woods.
“Sonny knows the woods really well, so we let him off the lead at that point. As Ryan runs down the field, Sonny usually potters through the woods, then comes back to him, then goes off again. He’s got his own little trail in a way and that’s always what he does.
“There wasn’t anything unusual about the walk and we didn’t suspect anything was wrong until about two or three hours later.”
Later on in the evening, Sonny appeared unresponsive to Hannah’s calls for his dinner.
She said: “I noticed something was up when I came home from work – he always greets me at the door but he just kept sleeping.
“He just wouldn’t get off the sofa. In the end, he kind of just fell off the sofa. He couldn’t hold himself up or walk.
“We noticed he had lost control of his bladder which wasn’t like him. His head was sort of shaking so we initially thought he was having a seizure or some kind of stroke. We took him to the emergency vets straight away.”
Concerned vets had to bring a stretcher out to the car park for Sonny because he couldn’t walk, Hannah said, and asked if the dog had any access to drugs.
“We mentioned he had been out in the woods running and she said Sonny could have taken something from the woods,” Hannah said.
“They did blood tests and found cannabis highlighted in his system.
“I googled it and found it starts with tremors but can get worse – dogs can get into seizures or even a coma.
“The vet said it can be a small amount of cannabis that starts the problem.”
Sonny needed to be monitored and was kept on a drip overnight. The next day, he was transferred to Hannah’s local vet, Heath Vets on Cyncoed Road.
Sonny still was showing cannabis in his system the next day, but Hannah said he was “a bit more alert”.
Thankfully, Sonny has recovered well but Hannah want to warn other dog owners of what could be lurking in their local green spaces and the £750 bill she had to pay because of it.
Hannah said: “We’re just being really vigilant with going through the woods. We keep him on the lead now until we sort of go near more open fields where I can see what he’s doing.
“The size he was and how much cannabis he took in, the vet said if it was a smaller dog it would probably be more lifethreatening.”
Chris Troughon, clinical director of Heath Vets, said: “Fortunately, we see very few cases, but cannabis intoxication is well-recognised in dogs. “Bearing in mind the size difference to humans, dogs need very little cannabis to induce symptoms. “Cannabis-containing cakes are the commonest route of poisoning, but occasionally dogs will steal someone’s ‘stash’ or even suffer the effects of secondhand smoke. It usually takes 30-60 minutes for effects to be noticed, depending on the source (eating cakes is quickest).
“Symptoms are very similar to the effect on humans and include ataxia (wobbliness), drowsiness, progressing to stupor – although some dogs can become hyperactive and aggressive. The heart rate can be slowed; sometimes there is vomiting.
“Cannabis ingestion is rarely fatal in dogs, but they need supportive treatment of intravenous fluids and warming while they recover, which usually takes 24-96 hours.”
His head was sort of shaking so we initially thought he was having a seizure or some kind of stroke
Hannah Alderman