A B.C. woman is warning fellow dog owners after her dog became sick after possibly ingesting cannabis and cocaine.
Kacy Wu was out cycling near Simon Fraser University with her dog Halo alongside her.
Wu took a break for some water, which is when Halo may have eaten the crumbled remains of a brownie or chocolate cake.
Wu later noticed Halo had “very strange symptoms,” including leg convulsions.
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The dog became paranoid and lethargic. Eventually, Halo couldn’t move and his breathing became very shallow, so Wu rushed him to the vet.
“I initially thought that it was some kind of paralysis or some kind of… stroke, but then I saw it was very highly suggestive for some sort of toxicity,” Dr. Amit Ranjan of the Maillardville Animal Hospital said.
Blood and urine tests came back positive for cannabis and traces of cocaine.
“Sometimes if it’s a high dose it can just put the dog’s heart rate really down,” Ranjan said. “It can be fatal as well.”
Twenty-four hours — and $1,500 worth of veterinary bills — later, Halo has recovered.
Ranjan says such poisonings have been on the rise since the legalization of cannabis and he sees about five to 10 such cases every week.
“The park and beaches are the most common areas so try to be more vigilant when you are walking them,” he said.