AN INQUISITIVE dog had to be rushed to the vets and put on a drip after “eating cannabis” while out on a walk.
Springer spaniel Kizzy managed to somehow digest the illegal substance while out on a walk along the Forth and Clyde canal in Glasgow on Tuesday.
The five-year-old pooch had been out with her dog walker at the time, but when she returned home, her owner Jayne Geddes spotted that she was walking funny.
Jayne, 33, later woke up to find Kizzy lying in her own urine on top of the bed semi-conscious and barely able to move.
The NHS nurse also noticed that Kizzy’s eyes were moving from side to side so immediately rushed her to the vets.
Vets later revealed that Kizzy’s symptoms were down to consuming cannabis and put her on a tube before keeping her in overnight.
Jayne was finally able to take Kizzy home the following day after paying a £700 vet bill.
Speaking today, Jayne, said: “I’ve never heard it before but apparently dogs like the smell.
“The vet said straight away that it was that.
“I’m a nurse and working night shift so it must have happened when she was out with the dog walker. She’s usually taken along Glasgow canal.
“There’s usually bits of bread left around therefrom people feeding the ducks so you wouldn’t think any different if she was sniffing around and eating.
“She came home and I was still up. I thought she was walking slightly funny so I checked her paws and they were fine.
“We went to bed and [my other dog] Pip and Kizzy slept up on the bed with me. When I woke up she was lying in a pool of pee, she was only semi conscious and her eyes were rolling from side to side.
“She was really struggling to walk. She couldn’t get off the bed, she was just so disorientated.
“She was lifting her front paws up high, to take a step, but she couldn’t seem to get her balance right.”
Jayne phoned her usual vets but was unable to get an appointment for Kizzy, who is also a qualified dementia therapy dog trained by Alzheimer’s Scotland.
She added: “I spoke to the dog walker but they didn’t know what it could be so I took her to the emergency vets.
“The vet immediately said that’s what they thought it was and that they had seen the same thing a lot.
“She was given charcoal and put on a drip overnight to give her fluids because they get really dehydrated from it. They said they would do blood tests too.
“I ended up paying just under £700 but I can probably claim that back on insurance.
“We’ve previously had cuts from broken glass being left too.”
Kizzy returned back home yesterday after getting her paw bandaged up with a pink cast.
For dogs, the symptoms of consuming cannabis can take up to 48 hours to fade.
In 2019, vet Siân Smith from Myerscough Veterinary Group in Blackburn, Lancashire, warned dog owners of the risk cannabis posed to their pets.
She said: “Cannabis can be really harmful to dogs and with baked goods, chocolate is toxic to them as well, so we would always advise owners to seek medical attention.
“Treatment very much depends on how much they’ve eaten – and how long ago since they ate it.
“If it happened very recently, we can give an emetic injection to make them sick.
“But if it’s after a few hours, it will already be digested, and there are supportive treatment options.
“We give them fluids, and can use activated charcoal that binds to the cannabis”.
