" Some substances that are relatively benign in humans can be highly toxic to dogs and / or cats," a spokeswoman for the TGA said. " Cannabis cultivated and manufactured into medicinal cannabis products is for use in humans only. It should not be provided to pets."
But veterinarians have the discretion to prescribe human medicines to pets, if they think it ' ll help, and certain very-low dose hemp oils, like the ones you may see at market stalls, can legally be sold in Australia. " The reason they ' re legal is that they have such a low concentration to be legal so they can ' t be abused. They may well be safe, but we also don ' t know that they ' re effective," practicing vet and member of the Australian Veterinary Association, Phil Brain, said.
He cautioned pet owners against seeing medicinal cannabis as the silver bullet for their sick pets.
" The AVA remains open to the possibility of these drugs, we welcome further research. It ' s probably just at this time, the unquestioning acceptance of the products is premature."
Phil said he ' s much more likely to see pets get sick from accidentally accessing their owner ' s stash.
" They come in with quite profound signs of toxicity, ranging from being spaced out, but often including seizing, they ' re wobbly and they ' re quite neurologically affected. In some cases that toxicity can be fatal."
" We keep an open mind I suppose, but veterinary science is a science and accordingly the AVA are advocates for only using products that have been thoroughly tested," Phil said.
Could we see approved cannabisbased product for pets on the Australian market soon?
Next step: getting the product into Australia on a trial basis.
" That ' s probably the first path for us, to get some product into the country through a TGA approval for research purposes so they can have some experience with it," David said.
Cannabis is a good option for pets, but we need to gather some local evidence."
David admitted Australia had been slow off the mark when it comes to utilising medicinal cannabis, but he said it ' s " for the right reasons ".
" There are about 5 million dogs- that ' s about 40 per cent of households in Australia- and they ' re part of the family. They ' re a very important part of people ' s lives, and we want to make sure we give them something safe," he said.
A last resort Tim and Tina didn ' t regret their decision for a second.
Muttley is a much-loved member of the family, and his human parents would do anything to make his last days bearable. You would do that for anyone, you ' d try and make them comfortable." " I mean, his prognosis is terminal and all it ' s done is make him comfortable for however long he ' s got to live," Tina said. Tim agreed.
" I just think, give it a go if there ' s no other option."
Phil ' s approach was a bit more cautious. " I would say to those pet owners to see the veterinarian and have a long chat about conventional medication, discuss using alternative medication as an option."