Pot for pets? What happened when terminally-ill Muttley took cannabis oil
By Shalailah Medhora - 21st Jun 2017 (Triple Hack)
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/could-cannabis-oil-work-for-pets/8638256
In September last year, Muttley's human
parents, Tim and Tina got the worst news
possible.
Their beloved 12 year-old American
Staffordshire terrier cross was dying.
He'd been diagnosed with cancer earlier that
year, and after rounds of chemo and five
surgeries, the vet said there was nothing more
they could do for him.
"He was extremely lethargic. He'd sleep 20,
22 hours a day and wanted to be left alone,
didn't want to go outside.
Basically, getting towards the point of he was
going to die," Tim told Hack.
"In October we said goodbye to him.
We were going away and we didn't think he'd
survive the week," Tina said.
"The only other option would have been
putting him down, because he didn't have any
quality of life."
Chemo was having a terrible effect on
Muttley.
"He got really sick, he lost ten kilos and
started urinating blood and the vet said that's
pretty much it.
He probably has weeks to live, if he's lucky,"
Tim said.
To ease Muttley's discomfort, the vet
suggested Tim and Tina try something a little
bit controversial - medicinal cannabis oil.
The couple was sceptical at first.
I thought I'd heard it all, until I'd heard that."
"But then I thought, if he can't take traditional
medicine, if it makes him feel sick - he was
vomiting and he would do this really sad thing
where he would bury his nose in his paws and
rub his head in the grass," Tina said.
"You could tell he was really in pain and that
was a sign that he was nauseous.
So I thought, what do we have to lose?
We might as well try it."
They got him some low-dose cannabis oil...
and noticed a change within days.
"He's put ten kilos back on, he's pain-free, he's
hyperactive, he's energetic, he's loving life,
and he has a huge appetite," Tim said.
In some ways, Muttley's turned into a typical
stoner.
I guess he gets the dog munchies."
"He does tend to get the munchies, even after
his second dinner.
He follows me to the fridge and he absolutely
loves ice-cream," Tim said.
"For some reason, this is a new taste he's
developed after we've given him the hemp oil.
He absolutely devours an entire bowl of ice-
cream."
"After taking medicinal marijuana, he wants
to be around everybody, he wants to play, and
sometimes at midnight he gets his toys and he
wants to play with his toys even though
everybody else wants to go to bed," Tim
laughed.