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Treatment of Some Symptoms and Illnesses with Medical Marijuana on Dogs

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  BajaOklahoma 
#1 ·
Hey guys, so this is a continuation thread of one that got way off topic. I would really like this to become a sticky to inform certain people who may not have thought of this as an option, so NO POLITICAL DISCUSSION, and no questioning or arguing about marijuana laws and legalization. Please share any experiences you, a family or friend, or even your dog has had with medical marijuana. Please bear with me here on my facts, I have only been looking into this, although thoroughly, for the past week or so.

Medical Marijuana has become increasing used by humans as a form of treatment of many ailments, long term or temporary, and now there is a growing trend of the use of it on dogs with certain illnesses, right now its being used mainly with dieing dogs on very strong opiates to live out their last months free of pain. It certainly is a valid option for people in states, or countries where recreational use is leagal, or they have a permit to grow/purchase marijuana themselves in certain states. It has been very popular as an alternative to many opioids to prevent some of the serious side effects and addition resulting from their use, marijuana also is less hard on the liver than many opioids and aparently is used for some liver conditions.
The main things it is used to treat in dogs is
- Arthritis
- Cachexia
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Glaucoma
- Muscle spasms
- Severe nausea
- Weight loss due to certain conditions
- Any chronic symptom that (a) substantially limits a person’s ability to conduct one or more major life activities or (b) if not alleviated, can cause serious harm to the patient’s safety or physical or mental health.

These are just the main symptoms, there is an extremely long list of things it is used to treat. https://www.marijuanadoctors.com/content/ailments/index

Understand that despite many testimonials and claims of it working for all these symptoms, the FDA says that it does not have any medical benefits, and there is very little research on dosage, and very little research on the effect on dogs. Unfortunately since many countries have strict marijuana laws until recently, not much research has been done. The most common administration is threw edible marijuana, a tincture, rather than the typical smoking that many people do, however some people have chosen to give the smoke to there dogs instead. The pros of the tincture is the possible prevention of certain lung issues caused by smoking, and the longer lasting effects, however smoking it greatly reduces 2 main issues with the tinctures, the possible inadequate extraction of the THC and CBD and CBN (the chemicals that give marijuana both its high side effect and its medicinal ones) making its effects null, another issue is giving a too large or too potent amount, apparently VERY hard to do in dogs above 20lbs however it should be adressed as possible symptoms include nausea, and even coma in some rare cases. Another less common option is administration through a vaporiser, however it mainly vaporizes THC, which does have some medicinal benefits, but it will have reduced effects of the CBD and CBN. Weed is a fair bit more potent than what it was 10-20 years back however its only about 1.5-2X more potent, and many medicinal marijuana locations have different concentrations of THC in their weeds. THC does have some medicinal benefits particularly with Glaucoma, MS, many autoimmune disorders, and weight gain in some dogs. Some vets are recommending marijuana for dogs, and like any other drug, you should always consult a vet before treating with it, since most vets most likely arent familiar with using it as a potential treatment, you may want to contact a vet whom does have experience with using it to treat certain conditions, there should be afew in the below articles. Here are some good reads on the use of it on dogs

http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/medical-marijuana-for-dogs
http://the420times.com/2013/03/medical-marijuana-for-dogs
http://zip420.blogspot.ca/2013/03/uses-of-medical-cannabiss.html
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/international-cannabis-news/179496-medical-marijuana-dogs-scientific-review.html
 
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#7 ·
Having worked for a huge group of oncologists for a number of years, we were desperate to try anything to control nausea and stimulate appetite. Medical marijuana was tried with very limited success on a number of patients. Success was very limited - and mostly seemed to be with those who had used it recreationally before (those who would admit it). Not a true scientific study, just experience.
Thank heavens for Zofran!
 
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