A video has emerged of two cats sprawled on the floor after eating all their owner's cannabis plants at home.
Their owner, a Massachusetts woman, found her cats in a dazed state of semi-consciousness after the animals apparently ate all of her marijuana plants in under 20 minutes.
She said the lights in her grow room had broken so she moved the plants onto the porch. But leaving them unattended, the cats got a taste for the marijuana, and chaos ensued.
An expert warned that the cats could have died if the animals had eaten any more marijuana.
“When I went out to move them back into the grow room my cats had eaten all the plants,” the caption on the video states.
Titled “Living the High Life”, the clip shows plants knocked over and soil all over the floor, as two cats lie on their backs, relaxed and mewing complacently in the aftermath of their feast.
It is unclear for what purpose the woman was growing the plants. Recreational cannabis has been legal in the state of Massachusetts since 2016.
But Simon Doherty, Junior Vice-President of the British Veterinary Association, warned cat owners against exposing their pets to the “potentially poisonous” substance.
“It is life and death; it could be potentially a nasty type of poisoning that could occur. Cat owners have a responsibility to ensure the health and welfare of animals, and need to make sure that anything that is potentially poisonous is kept well away.”
Mr Doherty also recommended keeping lily plants, poinsettia and Christmas cacti away from cats, as these too can be toxic.
“It is dose-related,” he added. “So a four or five kilogram cat compared to a 70 kilogram person only needs to eat a small amount of a plant like that and it can have a profound effect.
“On one level there is potential for side effects, but actually it wouldn’t take an awful lot more and the cat would be dead. It is a narcotic.”
Mr Doherty said that if owners are worried their pet has eaten something they shouldn’t have they should seek the advice of their local vet.
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