What are the symptoms of cannabis ingestion in pets?
Pets that eat cannabis most often show lethargy, unsteady walking, vomiting, and urine dribbling within 30 to 90 minutes. Dilated pupils, head tremors, and a low body temperature tend to follow in moderate cases. Most dogs and cats recover with supportive care, but edibles, concentrates, and THC-heavy products can cause severe signs that need a veterinarian right away.
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Most common signs
- Sleepiness, depression, or staring off into space
- Wobbly, drunken walking and trouble standing
- Vomiting and drooling
- Dribbling urine or losing bladder control
- Dilated pupils that react slowly to light
- Twitching, head tremors, or startled reactions to touch and sound
- Slow heart rate and low body temperature
Signs that need emergency care
- Repeated vomiting that will not stop
- Seizures or convulsions
- Extreme drowsiness that will not wake up
- Trouble breathing
- Collapse or a body temperature that feels cold to the touch
How the timeline usually runs
Signs usually start 30 to 60 minutes after a pet eats plant material and peak within 1 to 3 hours. Plant material often clears in 12 to 24 hours. Edibles and concentrated products can last longer, sometimes 24 hours or more, because the THC is absorbed slowly and the dose per bite is higher.
symptoms of cannabis ingestion in pets
What to do, step by step
- Move your pet away from the product and pick up any pieces left on the floor.
- Write down the time you think the ingestion happened and how much may have been eaten.
- Note the signs you see, including vomiting, wobbling, dribbling urine, tremors, and any change in alertness.
- Call your veterinarian, an emergency clinic, or a pet poison hotline before signs get worse.
- Keep your pet warm and quiet in a crate or a small, dark room while you wait for advice.
- Do not give food, water, hydrogen peroxide, or human medications unless a veterinarian tells you to.
- Bring the package, wrapper, or a photo of the label with you to the clinic.
- Drive to the clinic with your pet secured in a carrier or seatbelt harness.
What the veterinarian will do
Treatment is supportive. Your veterinarian may induce vomiting if the ingestion was recent and the pet is stable, give activated charcoal, run blood work, and provide intravenous fluids. Tremors and agitation may be controlled with medication. Most pets go home within 12 to 48 hours.
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Why edibles are riskier
Chocolate, xylitol, raisins, and macadamia nuts are common in cannabis edibles, and each of those can be toxic on its own. The THC dose in one edible can also be many times higher than in a single plant serving, which raises the chance of severe signs in a small pet.
What this means for CBD products
Hemp-based CBD products made for pets contain little to no THC, so they rarely cause these signs. Some products do carry measurable THC, so check the certificate of analysis and the label before giving anything to a pet, and store every cannabis or CBD product out of reach.