Connect with us

A Quebec Shelter Is Treating Injured Animals With Cannabis Oil

Quebec Shelter Is Treating Injured Animals With Cannabis Oil
Getty Images

Cannabis Oil

A Quebec Shelter Is Treating Injured Animals With Cannabis Oil

A Quebec shelter says cannabis oil is helping injured animals.

Medical marijuana has proven so effective for humans that many people are wondering if it could be helpful for other animals, too. Now, an animal shelter in Quebec is putting that theory to the test: cannabis for pets. The Centre-refuge Nymous is currently treating injured animals with cannabis oil. And so far, it looks like it’s working.

Meet Lou and Gaby

The Quebec shelter is using cannabis oil to treat two specific animals. One is a raccoon named Lou. She reportedly had a bad case of hypothermia. As a result, she still has violent body spasms.

The other animal is a skunk that the shelter has named Gaby. The female skunk has several health problems. Most notably, her back legs do not function fully. Additionally, part of her brain has atrophied.

After taking these two animals in, some of the workers at the shelter had the idea to treat them with cannabis oil. The shelter talked about the idea with some veterinarians.

Eventually, the shelter decided to go for it. They met with a local dispensary, which started giving the shelter medical-grade cannabis oil free of charge.

From there, the shelter started giving the cannabis oil to Lou and Gaby. Workers either give it to the animals directly using a syringe, or they mix the cannabis oil into the animals’ food.

According to Canadian news sources, Lou and Gaby have been getting cannabis oil for around three months now. And according to shelter staffers, it seems to be having positive effects.

In particular, workers at the shelter said that Gaby’s body has become much more stable. Additionally, they said that the skunk seems to have much better coordination and balance.

Animals and Medical Marijuana

The idea of treating sick or injured animals with medical marijuana isn’t a new one. In fact, there have already been studies to find out if cannabis could be effective for other mammals.

In particular, UC Davis did a study on this topic back in November 2017. For this project, researchers conducted a survey of pet owners who had given medical marijuana to their pets.

They analyzed the results of the study, looking for any trends. Results from the study showed that many pet owners reported positive outcomes from giving medical marijuana to their pets. In particular, pet owners said cannabis helped treat anxiety, pain, and control seizures.

Although theUC Davis makes interesting suggestions, there have not been enough studies on this topic yet to have a clear sense of how marijuana impacts animals.

Despite this, there are already a number of medical marijuana pet products on the market. These products are typically treats, tinctures, or other edibles that contain CBD but no THC.

Treating Injured Animals With Cannabis Oil

At this point, a couple of things seem clear. First, THC is not good for animals. In fact, a heavy dose of THC can be deadly for animals, especially small dogs and cats.

But CBD could be a different story. The few studies that have been done, most notably the UC Davis study, point to potential benefits.

Now, the success that Quebec’s Centre-refuge Nymous is having by treating injured animals with cannabis oil could add to that body of evidence.

More in Cannabis Oil

To Top