Pot for pets: Owners turn to marijuana to ease animal anxiety from fireworks

This is the dilemma of July Fourth for many pet owners, including Sarah Gault, from Scotts Valley.

“You don’t want to leave them at home so that they can hear the fireworks. But then if you take them with you, then it’s even louder,” Gault said.

So what to do? Ear muffs won’t last for long. Some say a do-it-yourself ThunderShirt can help relief anxiety.

But pet parents on the Central Coast are turning to this chill pill, scientifically known as cannabidiol or CBD.

KindPeoples Collective, a marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz, sells the CBD-infused drops.

“It stimulates the endocannabinoid receptors in the brain, where anxiety starts. And so it goes to the source and produces a nonpsychoactive sedative effect, which just makes the pet nice and calm and kind of pleasant,” Carr said.

Gault plans to give the drops to 12-year-old dog Scarlett if she dashes out to take a quick peek at the fireworks.

“It can be, you know, scary. It’s loud. She doesn’t know what’s going on, and she’s by herself. So I don’t want to leave her alone too long,” Gault said.

Scarlett’s dinner is going to have some kick to it.

“(It may taste like) a little hint of arugula or spicy herb flavor. But nothing outrageous,” Carr.

While cannabis infused products may help pets with anxiety, they’re mostly used to make aging pets more comfortable.