Dr. Diana Buitrago, a veterinarian at the Cali Zoo, estimates that she and her colleagues have given cannabis to more than 50 species since 2020 — from mountain tapirs and lions to snakes and capybaras. They have found that CBD works well for pain, inflammation, osteoarthritis and allergies, and that it can also enhance the effectiveness of treatments for conditions such as cancer.
THC, on the other hand, usually gives better results for patients at the zoo struggling with stress and anxiety, Dr. Buitrago said. It helped bring relief to a parrot who was plucking out her feathers, for example, and a jaguar who was obsessively pacing his enclosure and biting his tail. “We tried everything with him, but nothing seemed to work until cannabis appeared in our lives,” Dr. Buitrago said.
Regardless of the species, veterinarians who work with cannabis emphasize the importance of starting patients on small doses and then working up incrementally to find what works best for the individual. “Cannabis medicine is more challenging for me than oncology is, because in oncology there is a protocol to follow,” said Dr. Trina Hazzah, a veterinary integrative oncologist and co-founder and president of the Veterinary Cannabis Society, an advocacy and education group in California. “Cannabis is so personalized.”
Continue reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/science/animals-veterinary-cannabis-marijuana-cbd.html
