# Can cats get stoned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2001, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792 "2001-10-31T21:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Linear\_Crack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Linear\_Crack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linear_Crack)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/1 "2001-10-31T21:26:55Z")
I’ve always wondered if there has been any studies done on the affect marijuana has on different types of animals. I have this friend who tried to get his cat stoned. He told me he unloaded about 10 bong hits into the cat’s face and it had basically no affect. \*I was thinking the cat just preferred better weed and didn’t inhale. 🙂 \* Anyway, could someone enlighten me on this subject? ;j ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/2 "2001-10-31T21:41:59Z")
Well, according to the [veterinary medicine department at Purdue](http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant35.htm), animals will avoid marijuana in nature because it has toxic affects. Not good. That affect appears unrelated to marijuana’s hallucinogenic properties, though; according to [this press release](http://165.112.78.61/MedAdv/00/NR10-15.html) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, animals will self-administer THC as well as cocaine. So research animals sure appear to get something out of it, but won’t go after it in the wild. Anyway, your friend is trying to hard. If he wants to get his cat high, he should be giving it catnip. It’s a mild hallucinogen, and works on about half of all cats. ---
**Author:** ![Linear\_Crack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Linear\_Crack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linear_Crack)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/3 "2001-10-31T22:14:51Z")
Thanks **pldennison**! I found this interesting from the [site](http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant35.htm) you referenced. _“Signs can include nervousness and disorientation which can progress to depression, trembling, vomiting (in those species that can vomit), and sometimes diarrhea and breathing difficulties.”_ It appears cats and other animals do avoid it in the wild, but if forced into consuming or inhaling smoke from the plant they get pretty sick. I guess the expectations of a cat with cotton mouth and the munchies are a bit far fetched.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/4 "2001-11-01T01:25:58Z")
I personally find it repugnant what your friend did. Isn’t that kind of cruel? ---
**Author:** ![tapioca\_tundra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@tapioca\_tundra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapioca_tundra)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/5 "2001-11-01T01:38:35Z")
~~We have a skink here that gives off some sort of hallucinogen when it gets caught… Cats catch these and start flipping out… Cats are already half tripping as it is so getting them high can’t be a good thing… So… I guess they can…I don’t know… ---
**Author:** ![Solomon7t](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Solomon7t](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solomon7t)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/6 "2001-11-01T02:50:30Z")
My friend has a litte dog, I forget what type exactly. Its incredibly tiny and is the size of a small cat. Anyways, the dog loves weed. If anyone leaves bud out then the cat eats it on site. I think she just likes the taste of the weed though. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/7 "2001-11-01T03:06:00Z")
Dude, I poisoned my roommates cat! ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/8 "2001-11-01T03:31:29Z")
My friends got my cat stoned once… he seemed really nervous and he just stood on top of my bed, staring out the window. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/9 "2001-11-01T03:54:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I personally find it repugnant what your friend did. > > Isn’t that kind of cruel? \*\* I agree. I smoke regularly but never would I try to give it to an animal. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_The\_Bold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/10 "2001-11-01T04:25:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by musicguy \* > \*\*I agree. I smoke regularly but never would I try to give it to an animal. \*\* Anyone else find this odd? If it’s so awful to give to an _animal_, then why do you do it to yourself? Next thing you know, we’ll be eating the dog’s leftovers. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/11 "2001-11-01T06:58:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dale The Bold \* > \*\* > > Anyone else find this odd? If it’s so awful to give to an _animal_, then why do you do it to yourself? > > Next thing you know, we’ll be eating the dog’s leftovers. \*\* –It’s not too odd. It’s called “Do as I say, not as I do.” How many adults smoke cigarettes or drink coffee but forbid their most precious animals (their children) to do it? ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/12 "2001-11-01T07:33:19Z")
I got my cat stoned back in college. A couple of times, not always. The cat would be a little frisky, but not as coordinated as usual, for a brief time. He then went to sleep. Waking up about 45 minutes later and eating. I think the cat was stoned. ---
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/13 "2001-11-01T11:50:27Z")
The OP begs the question: Is there a hardcore stoner alive that _doesn’t_ own a cat? Not that I’ve seen. I guess bull mastiffs are a little more difficult to control in THC-fueled experiments. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/14 "2001-11-01T13:00:15Z")
Cats also flip out over parts of the cotton plant, for some odd reason. I had some raw cotton, a bit of the stems, and some roots in my garage and when the cat found them it just flipped out. Rolling all over them, crying (its a Siamese cat), jumping and running…the whole bit. I get the same way with Northern Neck Polio Pot. ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/15 "2001-11-01T13:03:55Z")
i personally know 2 cats who are potheads. i claim this because they will be in any room of the house and if they smell burning marijuana, they run to it and try to be sneaky and sit nest to the person with it, just begging for a hit. it might be poisonous, i don’t know; people enjoy poisoning themselves: too much alcohol, psychadelic mushrooms. . . perhaps these are sadistic cats. or they just like to get high. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/16 "2001-11-01T13:04:30Z")
Because a cat cannot consent to getting stoned. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/17 "2001-11-01T13:40:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Because a cat cannot consent to getting stoned. \*\* i second that. and, we cats simply hate marijuana. catnip is _such_ a better brand and quality, and we don’t ruin it by _burning_ it either [sub]stupid humans[/sub]. 😃 _d&r_ ---
**Author:** ![Linear\_Crack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Linear\_Crack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linear_Crack)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/18 "2001-11-01T21:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > …I get the same way with **Northern Neck Polio Pot.** **plnnr** , what the hell is Northern Neck Polio Pot? ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/19 "2001-11-01T22:13:26Z")
I agree with the whole consent thing. However, I have known cats who seem to like it. That said: Just as kids shouldn’t smoke, kittens shouldn’t either. Some friends of mine let their kitten “smoke”, and it had had development problems. Grew up with a tiny head, and some other problems, whose specific nature I forget. ---
**Author:** ![Cargogal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/48db29/32.png) [@Cargogal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cargogal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cats-get-stoned/90792/20 "2001-11-01T22:53:45Z")
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