CBD Products – How to Check if Your Pet Can Take Them

Last Updated on September 3, 2020 by Team Spinfuel

 With the use of CBD becoming normalized, there’s an increase in the demand for the use of CBD products on pets. The increased popularity is due to the practical benefits, including increased appetite, curing diseases, and managing chronic conditions. However, there’s little information on the validity of administering CBD products on pets. As advised by CBD company Innovet Pet, there are a lot to consider before giving your pet CBD. But before diving further in-depth about these considerations, it’s important to understand CBD.

What Is CBD?

CBD is short for Cannabidiol. It’s one of the natural cannabinoids found in the hemp plant, commonly found in oil form, hence the name CBD oil. The administering of CBD can either be orally, topically, or injections.

The utmost concern for those reading this is whether CBD is safe for pets. While CBD treats seizures, neuropathic pain, inflammatory pain, anxiety, appetite issues, and nausea, it also comes with side effects, including low blood pressure, drowsiness, and dry mouth, among others. It’s also demonstrated that CBD uses can yield different results for humans and pets. That’s why one should only use products built for pets.

How Does A Pet Qualify For CBD Products?

1. CBD Products For Signs Of Anxiety

Your pets can take CBD when signs of anxiety start to creep in. These signs include shaking, reluctance to go outdoors, and uncontrollable barking and whining. In some cases, the pets become more agitated and aggressive than usual. These may be signs of a deeper problem. Consult your local vet to see if you can use CBD for your pet to calm them down.

2. CBD Products for Infections 

CBD is an excellent remedy to fight infections at a young age for pets. Infections are a result of exposing pets to pathogenic bacteria. Ideally, the immune system should be able to fight off any diseases, but sometimes the bacteria might overwhelm the immune system by replicating and spreading in the body. The infections are more severe in younger pets compared to adult pets. CBD works as an antibiotic, killing bacteria in the body.

3. CBD Products for Pain Relief

Your pet can take CBD for both acute and chronic pain. Check for the signs of illness in your pet. The symptoms may include unusual behaviour, difficulty in movement, growling, or agitation. CBD regulates the neurotransmissions by calming the nerves of your pet. The beneficial effect of CBD is the ability to bring about homeostasis in the pets’ systems.

In this event, the pain is due to inflammation or infections, and the pet shouldn’t ingest CBD but applied topically to where there is inflammation or injected directly into the blood. The CBD lowers the inflammation and relieves the oral wound pain. The use of CBD also helps the pet to produce more cannabinoids.

4. CBD Products for Injuries and Wounds

Wounds can occur randomly and in different forms to your pets – puncture wounds, incision wounds from surgical procedures, shearing wounds, or abrasion wounds. Since they’re external wounds, they’re easily observable: hence it’s quicker to administer treatment. CBD speeds up the healing process besides preventing the development of bacterial infection in the wounds. It also prevents the occurrence of additional sores.

5. Relieve Cancer Related Problems with CBD

Your pet can use CBD if diagnosed with cancer. When it comes to cancer, the symptoms are often similar to those in people. Notable cancer symptoms in your pet include abnormal swelling, reluctance to exercise, and weight loss. Diagnosing cancer in people remains difficult, let alone in pets. However, close observation of your pet might give you some indication.

Look out for the abnormal growth of cells in the gums, mammary glands, neck, and testicles. These are some of the indications of tumour growth. Other symptoms include abdominal swelling, panting, abnormal discharges, abnormal odour, and non-healing wounds and sores. CBD helps in curbing the growth and spread of cancer cells besides the management of the symptoms. Make sure to immediately consult with your pet’s vet if you suspect cancer symptoms in your pet.

6. CBD Products for Weight Control

Use CBD for weight management. If your pet’s weight falls above or below the average weight, then it can use CBD to increase or cut down the excessive weight. CBD’s ability to improve appetite works well for under-weight pets by improving their eating habits and, eventually, increasing their overall weight.

Secondly, CBD can help reduce weight by improving the pet’s inclination towards exercise and moving outdoors, thus burning off their calories instead of storing them as fat.

 

 

7.  No Signs Of Adverse Side Effects

Currently, there aren’t enough studies on dosage for CBD. It’s therefore difficult to determine the exact dosage of CBD required for your pet. Only give CBD to your pet if there aren’t any negative side effects emerging after application. If the side effects include vomiting, excessive sedation, or excitement, don’t continue administering. However, pets develop tolerance gradually. Therefore, start with minimal dosages and gradually increase them to determine the exact required dosage.

To better cut the dosage range, consider the pet’s weight per the amount of CBD and the concentration of the product’s active components.

8. Consult A Vet before Using CBD Products

Currently, the use of CBD on pets is mostly experimental. The effectiveness and side effects are still on the research level. It’s essential to consult a veterinarian about appropriate treatment options. Since CBD products aren’t regulated, there’s no way to ensure the efficacy of anxiety, arthritis, or epilepsy. A veterinarian can also help in the proper diagnosis of your pet. It’s important to remember that not all pets should take CBD.

9. Your Pet Isn’t Taking Any Other Medication

You might think combining medications will give the treatment a boost. Well, this isn’t the case with CBD. High doses of CBD can inhibit liver activity, such as preventing enzymes’ production in the liver. The enzymes carry out drug metabolism. Thus, the use of CBD inhibits the metabolism of other drugs. Veterinarians advise against its use along with certain medications, so make sure to check in with your vet to make sure CBD can be taken along with your pets’ current medication.

Conclusion

Just like in people, the use of CBD for pets might produce different results in each case. Eventually, it all comes down to paying attention to your pet and see whether CBD is providing positive results.

Gradually increase the dosage from the small test amounts until it best suits your pet. Most importantly, look out for the side effects. Don’t administer CBD if your pets exhibit vomiting, excessive sedation, or excitement.