CBD has become quite popular in helping certain conditions such as dulling chronic pain or facilitating stress relief. Others have used it for treating muscle spasms derived from neurological conditions.
Not only this, but CBD has also shown promising results for animals as well. Today you’ll get to know more about the extent of CBD for pets and how to safely do it.
CBD for dogs and cats
A few clinical trials were executed in the past couple of years that suggest CBD can also help alleviate many conditions analogous to those in humans, which also benefit from its effects.
A CBD therapy for osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs study was conducted by Colorado State University to determine whether its relaxing and anesthetic effects were actually applicable for dogs.
Results were very promising. The paper shows an increase in activity and less “lameness” of the canines which were given very a strict dosage of CBD oil along a short interval of time:
“Each dog received a 2 mg/kg and an 8 mg/kg oral dosage of CBD oil, with a 2-week washout period between each experiment”.
The CBD for pets, in this case, had been previously lab-tested, showing only a 0.3% of Delta-9-THC, indicating it was safe and wouldn’t induce any unwanted psychoactive effects on the animals.
All CBD products directed to medical ends must fall under this specification, for both human and animal patients.
The most beneficial result noticed was that dogs were found relieved of pain derived from their OA. Their behavior came out as more uppity and engaging than before their CBD administrations — and subsequent increase in dosage, too.
The trial is very fresh, as it’s the first publicly available one, which targeted a specific dog breed (Beagles). Some dogs felt much more relaxed than normal following their increased dosage, causing a bit of sedation.
The most common negative effect observed in the dogs who were treated with oils were disturbances in their gastrointestinal system, mostly. These were mildly intense bowel-movement issues, that left their digestive tract overworked
This is a common occurrence for humans as well, who may have a low development of their endocannabinoid system or low liver function, leading to a more active bowel than normal due to an oil’s ingestion and its further rejection.
But don’t panic: this is just the effect of ingesting too much oil. Have you ever seen what happens in their poo when your dog sneaks up on the cheese pizza on the counter, or for when you really go ham on olive oil? Same deal for CBD oil.
In lower, but still strong quantities, oil can cause pets to poop nastier than usual, while overindulging in oily food can give them worrying liver-conditions. It’s all about ingesting oil, not about cannabis’ or CBD’s toxicity per-se.
Dogs and other animals must attend the doctor’s and get a recommendation for it, to avoid being surprised by unintentionally increased dosages.
Humans possess many cannabinoid-oriented neurochemical receptors inside our brains that other animals don’t. This is due to a much more complex relationship with the hemp plant along our evolution and history as species.
This means it’s necessary to start out your pet on a lower dosage of CBD oil and report their progress and activity to your trusted vet; get a better understanding of whether your four-legged friend is doing well or not under CBD and how much they’ll enjoy it.
Your pet will be submitted to a few blood tests and behavior checks to determine their success and their body’s receptivity to an initially “foreign” oily substance in their diet.
Increasing the dosage above your pet’s mg/kg ratio should only be done when making sure it’s safe with the doctor beforehand due to their liver’s receptiveness.
It’s about time we talked about cats, right? Let’s talk about cats too. The CBD oil for cats has also been tried by the University of Florida, but in an uncontrolled setting. Symptom relief was comparable to Colorado State University’s findings on dogs.
The felines under this study showed a much higher and intense responsiveness to CBD oil, leading to alleviating pain and increasing their comfort much quicker than dogs, on the other hand.
Relaxation and quieter behavior was majorly reported to be staple, and the main positive effect observed. The dosage for cats should be kept noticeably low and modest.
This is because they respond much, much more, to lower dosages, and show an intense response to the oil’s trademark effects of relaxation.
Their absorption rate in function of their biology’s metabolic predisposition, or pharmacokinetics, is much higher than a dog’s.
TLDR; cats generally process oily substances much quicker and are very susceptible to them, as well.
This led to cats showing increased sedation and rapid liberation (evacuation) of the oil frequently when under dosages that would be moderately substantial for a dog (>2ml/kg).
They will always need extra attention when under CBD, since they are much more susceptible to overdosing, leading them to be intoxicated if given CBD carelessly.
Cats, and especially them, shouldn’t be given hemp products without the recommendation of a veterinarian and frequently monitoring their response.
CBD treats and products for pets
Pets love treats and attention — some only treats, we know — but imagine that treating yours with a CBD product, that participates in the bond between you, can be possible. There are a lot of options for pet-friendly alternatives in CBD products.
Oils are a safe product, in low dosages (<1ml), for your pet. It can be mixed in along with their food as well, or even administered orally like you would take it yourself as a human.
But, some dogs react poorly to uninviting, “strange”, things, such as pills or a dropper, but love treats. This is why Hemp Chews, or CBD treats for dogs, exist: appealing to their sense of smell and sight, these are great because of their mimicking of other tasty pet products.
Hemp Chews have a specifically low dosage of CBD, and insignificant THC levels, being very mild to pets. They are devoid of any unwanted, significant, THC. Lab-tested, these products are meant to be given in very short and sparse amounts to avoid overdosing your pet.
They can be mixed in with your pal’s ration, one or two at a time, looking very much like the rest of their food. Just in case your pet is moody and figures something is off with that one chew in your hand, this is a great strategy to get it started on CBD.