PULLMAN, Wash. - Vanilla the ferret showed up at the emergency clinic fighting for her life.
Her heart rate had slowed drastically. She was barely breathing. Her mental activity was "stuporous to comatose." The pet's owners and veterinarians initially thought the two-pound ferret had suffered a serious head injury, but it turned out she had eaten a whopping dose of cannabis - three human-portioned edibles.
Veterinarians in the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital got creative. Using a simple over-the-counter human test, they confirmed the presence of high levels of marijuana, which they then treated with an intravenous lipid emulsion that helps clear THC from the system. Four days after showing up in the pet ER, Vanilla was back to good health - and the team that treated her had new information to share about the growing problem of marijuana toxicity in pets.
"We see it more and more frequently," said Claudia Huerta, lead author of a new paper published in the Journal of Veterinary Emergency & Clinical Care detailing the case.
Huerta recently completed a residency at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital and has taken a position in Florida. Her co-authors on the paper included colleagues from the College of Veterinary medicine: Drs. Linda Martin, a professor of small animal emergency and critical care; Amanda Lamarca, a neurology resident; and W.Y. Eunice Lam, a former intern.
The Pet Poison Hotline - which takes calls from the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean - reported that calls about marijuana poisoning increased 448% from 2017 to 2023.
Cases of marijuana toxicity among pets have skyrocketed in recent years, as 24 states have legalized recreational cannabis. The Pet Poison Hotline, which takes calls from the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, reported that calls about marijuana poisoning increased 448% between 2017 and 2023.
Most cases involve dogs. Among canines, ingesting cannabis can lead to a loss of balance, lethargy, vomiting, and, in some cases, seizures. In addition to the cannabis itself, an artificial sweetener used in some cannabis edibles - called xylitol - is toxic to dogs.
"We might actually worry more about that than the marijuana," Huerta said.
Little is known about ferrets and cannabis, however. When Huerta was looking into Vanilla's case, she found just one case study from decades back, in which the ferret perished.
Vanilla was brought to the WSU veterinary hospital in March of 2023; her owner believed she had been crushed by a reclining chair, which would have explained her symptoms, including seizure-like activity and tremors.
"We all believed it was a traumatic brain injury," Huerta said.
Soon after admission, the pet's owner discovered that three edibles, each with 10 milligrams of cannabinoid and cannabinol, were missing and alerted the veterinarians. The team used an over-the-counter test designed for humans to check the ferret's urine. Those tests do not always work on dogs, but in this case, the test showed cannabinoids in the ferret's urine.
The team then treated the pet with an IV lipid emulsion - a liquid with suspended fats that binds with THC and helps clear it from the system.
Seventy-two hours after it was admitted, the ferret was bright, alert and responsive. Her vital signs continued to improve until her release a day later, and the owner reported the pet was healthy and active 30 days later.
Huerta said that people who use cannabis should be sure to keep it stored where their pets can't get it. One challenge facing veterinarians when pets do eat marijuana is a reluctance among pet owners to tell them what happened - particularly if the pet owner lives in a state, such as neighboring Idaho, where marijuana has not been legalized.
But Huerta said it's important for pet owners to give veterinarians as much information as possible.
"We're not the police. We just want to take care of the pet," Huerta said. "Nothing's going to happen if they tell us."
