By Billee Sharp

Our pets are important to us, they are family members and it's hard to see them suffering from injury, ill-health or the travails of old age. The good news is that CBD (Cannabinidiol) is a safe effective treatment for a wide range of conditions for both cats and dogs.

It is an amazing fact that all animals, including birds and even fish have an ECS ( Endocannabinoid System), and that paleo-biologists have identified ECS in creatures that lived millions of years ago.

The ECS was discovered only thirty years ago and no single researcher is responsible; rather the collective research of individuals working backwards; first discovering phytocannabinoids in cannabis, then endocannabinoids in rats and humans and then the cannabinoid receptors, CB1 & CB2 which revealed the whole ECS regulatory system. These discoveries have shown us the importance of the role that the ECS plays in maintaining balance between our organ systems. Naturally there are differences between the human ECS and the ECS of any other creature but the homeostatic function is identical. Fortunately in the last few years there have been a number of clinical trials to ascertain CBD’s efficacy in treating animals safely for a variety of conditions.

Possibly the most significant study pertaining to both cats and dogs is the 2019 clinical trial at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine which investigated the pharmacokinetic action of CBD in both species. Pharmacokinetics is the science of how compounds are processed in the body, this clinical trial was designed to test the safety of CBD medication for cats and dogs.

The trial used eight healthy dogs and eight healthy cats, the dogs were given one 2mg CBD chew daily for twelve weeks and the cats were given a daily dose of a 2mg CBD-infused fish oil capsule. The results expressed through blood tests showed that dogs’ uptake of CBD was greater but that cats’ retained CBD in blood plasma for longer. Interestingly, dogs were observed to have more cannabinoid receptors than cats, which might account for the greater uptake in the canine subjects. In March 2021, a Canadian study, on the safety and tolerability of CBD in escalating doses for cats, yielded positive results with oil-based tincture without significant side effects.

Dogs have received most of the recent attention from the research community with clinical trials focussed on osteoarthritis, epilepsy, pain reduction, improved functionality and atopic dermatitis. Across the board CBD showed improvement in symptoms and quality of life.

Colorado State University’s 2018 study on dogs suffering epileptic seizures showed 89% of participant dogs (who previously had two or more seizures a month) had significantly decreased seizures over the 6 week trial period.

Dogs with arthritis have been studied in three recent trials at Cornell University, Colorado State University and in Ontario at the Canopy Growth Center of Human and Animal Research, all three studies reported reduction of pain, improved mobility and better quality of life.

CBD topical cream was tested in a clinical trial in 2020 for the treatment of Atopic Dermatitis, a painful condition which affects many dogs with allergies. The dogs were treated with CBD -rich cream for seven weeks and the results showed significant decrease in symptoms. There is also significant anecdotal evidence to support arthritic relief from massaging CBD-infused salve into painful joints.

I have successfully treated our family’s cat and dog with oil-based CBD tincture for differing conditions. Our dog Akira developed arthritis when he was twelve years old, the Tramadol that our vet prescribed for him didn’t give him any relief and he had no appetite. When we started him on CBD tincture ( squirted into a piece of juicy chicken wrapped up in bacon!) he began to regain his mobility and his appetite within the hour he scrambled up and limped into the kitchen to his food and water. He lived another four years and took tincture every day with his food. We felt that giving him CBD accounted for his calm disposition as he gradually lost his sight and hearing, it was the only constant medication we gave him.

More recently, I treated one of our cats with CBD tincture. We had just moved house and Toltec, who is ten years old, let us know he wasn’t happy about it. Toltec is usually quite vocal but when we moved he started to yowl plaintively in our new neighbor’s shrubbery. I would go and coax him back over the fence but he kept doing it! I remembered that a girlfriend had treated her extremely timid cat successfully with CBD tincture and wondered if it might help with Toltec’s yowling. I started giving him two drops of Synergy’s Pet tincture in his daily teaspoon of wet food and then asked the family to report back to me if they heard the telltale yowling. So far, so good, the yowling has stopped and so have the visits to the shrubbery, Toltec is staying closer to home and isn’t exhibiting any other anti-social behavior, I’m now only giving him 2 drops a couple of times a week; my logic is that his anxious symptoms have abated with the help of the CBD tincture, so I want to make sure that he still gets a little support until he is really used to his new home.

Pet owners accounts of animals responding positively to CBD treatment for injuries, attest to quicker recovery from surgeries, strains, inflammation as well as relief from pain and anxious symptoms. I visited a friend this week whose chocolate labrador had just had a chemotherapy treatment, he was taking CBD tincture and was eating well and taking good walks.

It is such a comfort to be able to alleviate pain and distress in animals, and as the trials and the anecdotal record show, CBD tincture taken at correct dosages will benefit cats and dogs with a variety of ailments and issues. Keeping dated notes on dosage amounts and perceived results will guide the pet’s treatment plan. We recommend our CBD for Pets tincture for cats and dogs. At a 24:1 CBD: THC ratio the tincture delivers a high dose of CBD in each drop of infused olive oil. Two to three drops per 10 lbs of pet weight is a therapeutic dose, added to food for optimum absorption.

Sources

Early Medical Practices

Safety and Tolerability is Escalating Cannabinoid doses in Healthy Cats

Study evaluates adverse effects of CBD in dogs and cats