Stigma aside there has been a fair amount of research with the use of marijuana and treating IBD in humans with very good results. I have also been reading about some research and testing with animals such as horses, dogs and cats and was wondering if anyone has tried this with their pet? On the human side of IBD the patients that have taken it say it makes they feel like a normal person and they almost feel as if they don't have IBD. The research on the animal side is more limited but the animals that have taken it show fairly good results. I would be interested to hear if others have heard much about this or even tried it on their pets with IBD.
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Has anyone tried marijuana to help treat IBD in cats?
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Interesting. Fairly good results in animals in what sense? That they seem to feel better or eat better or....?
I've never heard of it; but that sounds like something I would think would be done under direct supervision of a vet. It may not take much to be too much for a small animal such as a cat; or any animal.
I'm pretty sure that it is not safe for an animal to ingest the plant. I recall reading vet stories about treating animals who have gotten into someone's stash.
However, there are many different ways to prepare herbs, so there might be a safer method of administration that has not been fully explored yet.
I would want to do a LOT of research before embarking on any course of treatment.
However, there are many different ways to prepare herbs, so there might be a safer method of administration that has not been fully explored yet.
I would want to do a LOT of research before embarking on any course of treatment.
If what you've been reading is available online, perhaps you could post the links to it.
You'll find a great number of those people through this site: Welcome to IBD Kitties Here's their email addy: [email protected]
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So lets be honest, in all recorded history there is not a single death related directly to the ingestion of Marijuana even when overdosed while Alcohol kills more people than all recreational drugs put together including marijuana. We don't hear much about alcohol but we sure do with other drugs including marijuana yet booze is okay. Also consider that over 50% of all pharmaceuticals sold in North America just 150 years ago had THC as its active ingredient. Then consider the fact that its is as god gave it to us and needs no processing and works with the chemicals and receptors in our bodies unlike a lot of other drugs. Then we get all of the BS from the States about how bad it is and how it makes you crazy or kills but there is no proof of this. Of all unbiased studies done the only conclusion they have come to that it can increase the risk of schizophrenia in some people in their late teens. They do not know if these people would be predisposed to it already or if marijuana was the trigger and that is about it.
Given that it is a fairly safe herb to use but like anything it is needs to be done in moderation. If you drink too much water you will die or if you eat too many carrots so anything in excess is bad for you. If you go through the links below some may not be that reliable while others are from people with a lot of knowledge which gives hope. I am currently feeding my pet drugs that have more side-effects than the issues I am trying to alleviate yet medical science has no issues pushing that. Hey, your cat was on pred for a while, we have to test him for diabetes because many animals come down with this during the treatment.
The people who have done research and studies without a hidden agenda have found that marijuana does help in many cases and they have no seen side effects from it. I am running out of options for my cat because he has tried most of them and they don't really help. He is almost 19 years old and deserves better yet there is nothing I can do to help him. I can hear his stomach making noise when he is eating and the sad thing is my head is not up against him, I am sitting 6 feet away from where he is eating. His insides also wake me up with start some nights because it is making loud noises and all I can do is give him some pain meds to help him ride through it. I read and read and all I read is people trying what I have already tried with no results and still my pet is not doing well.
Now I look at marijuana and read how it has helped so many people and animals and think a natural remedy may work better. This one herb contains all of the solutions to the drugs I am currently feeding him so how could it be worse? Considering the size of the animal it wouldn't take much to give him the same relief that the drugs that cost $300 plus a month should but don't. There are simple ways of extracting the active ingredients out of marijuana so you would not have to feed the animal the actual plant.
Anyway, it is something I am certainly considering because a few years of watching him suffer and waste away on other drugs hasn't really helped him out.
People:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/28584.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...lammatory-bowel-disease-crohns_n_3311278.html
http://medicalmarijuana.com/medical-marijuana-treatments/Crohn-s-disease
http://stonergirlsguide.com/2014/03...-about-marijuana-cannabis-and-crohns-disease/
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000138
http://www.ihaveuc.com/inflammatory-bowel-disease-and-medical-marijuana/
Animals:
http://www.canna-pet.com/
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/medical-marijuana-pets-dogs-cats-horses
http://www.2ndchance.info/marijuana.htm
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2013/11/medical-use-of-marajuanacannabis-for-pets/
Given that it is a fairly safe herb to use but like anything it is needs to be done in moderation. If you drink too much water you will die or if you eat too many carrots so anything in excess is bad for you. If you go through the links below some may not be that reliable while others are from people with a lot of knowledge which gives hope. I am currently feeding my pet drugs that have more side-effects than the issues I am trying to alleviate yet medical science has no issues pushing that. Hey, your cat was on pred for a while, we have to test him for diabetes because many animals come down with this during the treatment.
The people who have done research and studies without a hidden agenda have found that marijuana does help in many cases and they have no seen side effects from it. I am running out of options for my cat because he has tried most of them and they don't really help. He is almost 19 years old and deserves better yet there is nothing I can do to help him. I can hear his stomach making noise when he is eating and the sad thing is my head is not up against him, I am sitting 6 feet away from where he is eating. His insides also wake me up with start some nights because it is making loud noises and all I can do is give him some pain meds to help him ride through it. I read and read and all I read is people trying what I have already tried with no results and still my pet is not doing well.
Now I look at marijuana and read how it has helped so many people and animals and think a natural remedy may work better. This one herb contains all of the solutions to the drugs I am currently feeding him so how could it be worse? Considering the size of the animal it wouldn't take much to give him the same relief that the drugs that cost $300 plus a month should but don't. There are simple ways of extracting the active ingredients out of marijuana so you would not have to feed the animal the actual plant.
Anyway, it is something I am certainly considering because a few years of watching him suffer and waste away on other drugs hasn't really helped him out.
People:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/28584.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...lammatory-bowel-disease-crohns_n_3311278.html
http://medicalmarijuana.com/medical-marijuana-treatments/Crohn-s-disease
http://stonergirlsguide.com/2014/03...-about-marijuana-cannabis-and-crohns-disease/
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000138
http://www.ihaveuc.com/inflammatory-bowel-disease-and-medical-marijuana/
Animals:
http://www.canna-pet.com/
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/medical-marijuana-pets-dogs-cats-horses
http://www.2ndchance.info/marijuana.htm
http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2013/11/medical-use-of-marajuanacannabis-for-pets/
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I certainly understand your frustration with this disease. My kitty started with this when he was 18 months old. He is 11 now. He started on steroids a little over 3 years ago and so far it is under control. I know that this is a progressive disease so he may well get to where your kitty is now. He recently developed a chicken allergy which could well be part of this. I know secondary food allergies go hand in hand with IBD. I don't think the majority of society has a problem with marijuana. It's usually the older generation that resists things. I am 58, now part of the older generation and we came of age in the 60s and 70s so there isn't going to be a huge amount of resistance to marijuana.
I think like with any drug there should be some caution as far as controlled studies.
I think like with any drug there should be some caution as far as controlled studies.
A "complete remission" in 5 of 11 patients - remission measured how? Remission of symptoms? Or was a thickened intestine no longer thickened?
The medical news today piece is from 2005. If science proved out, why are there not follow-up trials? NOT that clinical trials are the end-all be-all. With IBD, the best help is often that which is anecdotal, rather than blindly following the traditional protocols, which leaves many pets and parents wanting.
I didn't take the time to read through everything. And I'm not critical of controversial alternatives. My husband suffers from a rare medical problem: he was in a Harvard study where psilocybin mushrooms were used to treat (or attempted to treat) a condition. There was sound science behind the physiology of it though. I know marijuana is helpful for chemo patients via increase in appetite, general sense of well-being, etc. (And, in fact, a drug is in the process of being approved in Europe that is based off of LSD for treatment of the condition, just without the trip).
What I wonder is are you already giving him B-12 shots? Digestive enzymes? The right probiotics in the correct amounts? Slippery elm bark powder and George's aloe vera juice, bone broth? Raw or home cooked food? (Controlling additives and preservatives, ingredients, etc). All of these things help stop leaky gut via one method or another be it addressing inflammation, and/or helping put the gut bacteria back into balance. ...All of the natural things that can make kitty feel better and is helping IBD cats drop the pred and metro etc etc etc. These are all natural alternatives to address what is known about the primary factors in IBD.
See this post for a partial summary: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/274582/long-term-ibd-meds#post_3520181
If you'd like more info on any of them, just let us know.
Personally, I'd want to address diet and the factors we know impact the guts of IBD kitties rather than just... in essence throw another medication at it. :dk:
The medical news today piece is from 2005. If science proved out, why are there not follow-up trials? NOT that clinical trials are the end-all be-all. With IBD, the best help is often that which is anecdotal, rather than blindly following the traditional protocols, which leaves many pets and parents wanting.
I didn't take the time to read through everything. And I'm not critical of controversial alternatives. My husband suffers from a rare medical problem: he was in a Harvard study where psilocybin mushrooms were used to treat (or attempted to treat) a condition. There was sound science behind the physiology of it though. I know marijuana is helpful for chemo patients via increase in appetite, general sense of well-being, etc. (And, in fact, a drug is in the process of being approved in Europe that is based off of LSD for treatment of the condition, just without the trip).
What I wonder is are you already giving him B-12 shots? Digestive enzymes? The right probiotics in the correct amounts? Slippery elm bark powder and George's aloe vera juice, bone broth? Raw or home cooked food? (Controlling additives and preservatives, ingredients, etc). All of these things help stop leaky gut via one method or another be it addressing inflammation, and/or helping put the gut bacteria back into balance. ...All of the natural things that can make kitty feel better and is helping IBD cats drop the pred and metro etc etc etc. These are all natural alternatives to address what is known about the primary factors in IBD.
See this post for a partial summary: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/274582/long-term-ibd-meds#post_3520181
If you'd like more info on any of them, just let us know.
Personally, I'd want to address diet and the factors we know impact the guts of IBD kitties rather than just... in essence throw another medication at it. :dk:
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A friend of mine uses cannabis tea as a pain killer for her cat with cancer, and it seems to work. She puts some in a tea ball and steeps it in boiling water, and when it's cool, she gives him a little of the tea with a syringe. She actually gets the medical grade cannabis from another friend. It isn't legal in our state yet, although many parent are trying to get it legalized because it works for their sick kids.
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A friend of mine used it to treat her dog with lung cancer. She made cannabis butter and gave it to him that way. He did great, helped him feel better and eat more. I tried it with my IBD kitty and she didn't like the butter. I gave some to my oldest male who has arthritis and it seemed to help. My sister treats her cat with it for digestive issues.
We already give our pets so many of the same human grade drugs that any one of us may take, from pain killers to anesthesia -- it could only stand to reason that cannibis, especially in the tincture or butter/edible form, would help our companions through some of their very roughest times as well.
I disagree.
There are many human grade medications that absolutely cannot be given to certain animals... even so far as some drugs may be used for dogs, but absolutely not by cats.
Animals process drugs differently than humans, so it is not necessarily a foregone conclusion that they can use the same drugs as us.
There are too many variables that could make things go terribly wrong. Not only does one need to consider the strain of the plant itself, but the methods of preparation. Different preparations and mediums (water, alcohol, oil) are going to bring out different elements of the plant... and there is the question of dosage... Get any one of those things wrong, and you could end up with more of a problem than you started with.
Personally, I wouldn't want to chance it without some solid scientific research to rely on.
By the way, smoking (nicotine) is also known to help human sufferers of IBD...but it's not recommended. IBD will make life a misery - although his can often be abated by various methods - but smoking will kill you. I happen to believe that if you're dying anyway, then what the heck - just get some relief. But this is because a human can TELL you it helps them. Without an in depth knowledge of how a feline's system works, I think it is dangerous to make this choice for them, based only on human anecdotals. And I also agree with LDG - first exhaust all known natural methods that are proven to have good effect.
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Hmmm, maybe I'll make some cannibis infused butter for my Callie to see if it'll increase her appetite. Don't worry, I'll call Dr. Christina first. But we've got medical grade MJ here already for DH, and I've been reading up on how to infuse oil with it (not like the old days
I don't know about butter or tinctures, but cannabis tea is pretty simple and pretty natural.
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Very interesting. Glad to hear this works and there is away to administer it other then butter.
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With your cat already having IBD how did they determine an allergy for the chicken?
NONE of the active cannabinoids is soluble in water. Which leaves chlorophyl and pinenes (spelling?). Curious.
That started within the past year, he had a yeast infection in his ears. The vet said that it was probably a secondary food allergy. He was eating mostly chicken so I switched up his diet, doing away with the chicken and no more issues with his ears.
I'm no expert on cannabinoids, I just know what she tells me. She says it makes him relaxed and slightly sleepy. Maybe it's working like a holistic tincture, like the tiny amount of tranquilizer given to cat to make the owners less allergic. Sounds weird to me, but they say it works.
