Starting tomorrow,  April 1, you can legally buy weed in Ontario pot shops. Recreational cannabis has been legal since last October. And medicinal marijuana has been allowed since around the year 2000. But what about your animal? As of no, there is no legal way that a veterinarian can prescribe, which is unfortunate.

Just like humans, in dogs, for example, Cannabis oil can be used to treat cancer, back pain, arthritis, stress, anxiety, nausea, and seizures. It’s also been known to treat gastrointestinal issues, among other health conditions in dogs.

Animals also have a a serious of cannabinoid receptors running throughout their body, and when they are given cannabis they interact with the receptors in the body and can help treat the above mentioned health problems.

Cannabis oil can be used to treat seizures, nausea, stress, anxiety, arthritis, back pain, symptoms of cancer, and gastrointestinal issues, among other health conditions in dogs.

Prescription drugs for humans have many side effects, and can sometimes be deadly. The same goes for your pet, and when it comes to animals, medical cannabis has no life threatening effects with the proper dosage, so there is no risk involved as their would be with prescription medication.

According to Gary Richter, a veterinarian in Oakland, California,  It has “a lot of beneficial medical properties” for dogs. He said that he’s  seen animals that have fewer seizures,” as well as improvements mitigating separation anxiety, aches and pains and gastrointestinal problems like vomiting and diarrhea.”

Stephen Cital, a veterinary technician who advises the CBD company Phyto Animal Health, says that more of the compounds found in cannabis will be incorporated into animal treatment with all of the legalization going around. He he told the Guardian that cannabis has been tested on 24 species, including birds, reptiles and invertebrates.

According to him:

“As with every pharmaceutical, people should be very careful about what they’re giving their pets,” Richter said. CBD dog treats can be purchased in some pet stores and online but there’s “no oversight of the quality of these products”.

That’s an important point to keep in mind, in fact, not long ago, a gentleman by the name of Jeffrey Raber, PhD, CEO of The Werc Shop in California state gathered a team and actually tested 57 different cannabis concentrate samples. The results were disturbing to say the least. The study by Werc,  found that more than 80 percent of the cannabis samples were contaminated, with several strains containing unsafe levels of solvent and pesticide residues. Residual amounts of isopentane, a solvent used to concentrate cannabis, were detected in 30 percent of the solvent-based “dabs,” while others contained traces of butane, heptane, hexane, isobutene, isopropyl alcohol, neopentane, pentane or propane.

You can read more about that here.

So what’s the solution? If you live in Canada, grow your own! You can grow up to four plants without a prescription that you could possibly use for your pets, and if you’d like to grow more and need a prescription for yourself we can connect you with compassionate doctors that will provide you with the prescription you need. This is done under CANADA’s ACMPR program. 

If you’d like assistance to make sure you go through the process legally and the right way, please contact us about acquiring a licence and we’ll help you through the process every step of the way.

Start taking advantage of all the benefits you’ll receive from growing your own medicine. We’re looking forward to serving you.