Care for your pets with CBD – How to pimp the health of your loved ones
CBD has become a popular wellness trend; more and more products have hit the market, as has a confusing amount of information online. Of course, you want to treat your animal companions like royalty, but it can be difficult to determine what your pet really needs. So how about CBD?
Not only for us human beings cannabidiol can be an answer to different problems, but also for dogs, cats and horses CBD oil is a true game changer! Especially our loved ones, who are like a family member to us, deserve alternative methods for the good life.
Have you heard about this all-natural remedy to help your pet with anxiety, chronic pain, and other health issues? An increasing number of pet parents turn to cannabidiol to improve their lives. Does that really work out? How do you get your four-legged companion to consume CBD oil? What other animals can use CBD? What is the legal situation? This article will enlighten you about everything you need to know.
CBD for everyone! – why CBD for pets works out as well
First of all, let’s quickly clarify what CBD actually is again: cannabidiol (CBD) is extracted from the hemp plant. Don’t panic – unlike THC, the substance has no intoxicating effect. The green plant contains a multitude of minerals, fiber, proteins, vitamins and fatty acids, it’s healthy without end. CBD is closely linked to the endocannbinoid system (ECS).
This system is deeply anchored in our roots and part of the human nervous system, where so-called cannabinoid receptors are located, with which active ingredients from the cannabis plant can connect. For example, our perception of pain is regulated, as well as feelings of fear or the central nervous system. Cannabidiol has an anti-inflammatory effect, is antispasmodic, antitumoral, antibacterial and antidepressant.
It affects so many different parts of the body that you can speak of almost anything, if you will. Long story short, CBD is a real all-rounder. Like humans, also dogs, cats, and many other animals have an endocannabinoid system so they too can benefit from CBD oil. It allows the active ingredients in hemp to help relieve many symptoms for them, too.
Some vets have already recognized this for themselves; they are increasingly referring to CBD products specifically for animals, even as veterinary scientific research into this new remedy is in its infancy. For humans, however, things look a little different: studies clearly show the benefits from above, which result from consumption.
It’s therefore suggested that the existing ECS in animals can help them with anxiety, aggression, pain, seizures, muscle spasms and neurological disorders. For horses in particular, CBD can be a real improvement in the quality of life. They tend to suffer from so-called colics much more often, which are basically nothing more than severe cramps – and this is exactly where CBD comes in.
Legal situation & CBD for animals
There are clear guidelines and laws concerning the subject of legality of CBD, which determine whether CBD is legal in Germany. Although the spreading of CBD is steadily increasing and CBD products are slowly being integrated by the masses, many consumers are unsure and ask themselves whether CBD is legal in Germany. An important limit for the legality of CBD products are their THC contents, which must remain under 0,2% for the CBD oil for example to be legal.
Back to our animal friends. Who can actually benefit from the wonder herb? Basically, all animals with an endocannabinoid system – and that applies to many, because CBD in principle is suitable for many species. All mammals, birds, fish and other animals have an ECS that is held responsible for the effect. But especially on a few lovable companions, CBD has a pretty good effect:
- CBD for dogs
- CBD for cats
- CBD for horses
- CBD for guinea pigs
- CBD for rats
- CBD for rabbits
- CBD for hamsters
For these animals, CBD oil can be the ace up your sleeve and can be used as an alternative sedative, for example, when New Year’s Eve is approaching full of firecrackers and rockets. Not only is our cortisol level, known as the stress hormone, increased, many pets and animals in the nature are plagued by fear at the turn of the year.
This can be avoided by using CBD oil. On the other hand do horses, as escape animals, have their very own fear system in their habitus, which acts like a reflex to certain external stimuli or to threatening situations: for them, CBD also can be very profitable, their escape reflex is also accompanied by excessive physical demands, which can be remedied.
Horse lovers are also familiar with Cushing and Headshaking Syndromes, which are more common among their favorites. You can find all kinds of experience reports on the Internet that tell of positive effects and an improved quality of life – doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
But CBD also has one or two specific advantages for other popular animal species. Dogs in particular enjoy the beneficial effects of CBD in pain therapy: many of our best buddies suffer from arthritis at an advanced age, which is not only painful, but also limits the ability and lifestyle of some dogs.
Many a companion also has to cope with depression or immense stress due to an imbalance in the brain, just like with humans. With the right administration, CBD oil can be an effective therapy for dogs besides their regular medication, we’ll talk about dosage in the last part.
In addition to our faithful-eyed friends, cats are also extremely popular pets worldwide – the millions and millions of memes and videos on the Internet are therefore no coincidence. For the fluffy, moaning creatures, CBD can be a holy grail as well; just like dogs and humans, cats are prone to arthritis in old age, that’s where CBD oil can provide the right support and protect the joints.
Quite special add: studies have suggested that CBD may even have a potential cancer-inhibiting effect, that’s why more and more cat-owners are turning to liquid gold in connection with cancer. In addition to these two aspects, CBD also can be given to the velvet paws as a feed supplement for a more relaxed mind or a shiny coat.
In contrast to other animals, the only thing to note here is to use a CBD oil without terpenes, as they lack the necessary enzyme for degradation. Cats also have a much higher metabolism, which means that the effects on them wear off faster and too much of a good thing can cause digestive problems, malaise, kidney or liver damage. So here no full-spectrum oil should be used and attention should be paid to high quality.
CBD dosage for animals & side effects
Regardless of which pet you enjoy everyday life with and for what treatment you want to use CBD oil – there is basically the golden rule “the dose makes the poison”; therefore better start small at first, it always is possible to add more. Because as with humans, there is no standard dosage for animals either. In addition, any incompatibilities can be observed and ruled out. But we wouldn’t be Tom Hemp’s if we hadn’t scoured half the Internet again to give you at least some guidance, so here we go:
In general, as already mentioned, it is advisable to start with a low dosage. That can be around two to three drops a day, as a rule of thumb, the smaller the animal, the lower the dose. For example, one drop a day is enough for a rabbit, after a few days to a week the administration can be increased as with all other pets if the desired effect hasn’t been achieved yet and no intolerance has been found. The following guidelines are also suitable as a good guide for correct handling of horses, dogs and cats:
| Species | Complaints | Regular dosage | Increased dosage |
| Horses | Colic, loss of appetite, restlessness, chronic pain, arthritis, muscle cramps, ulcers | 0,25mg/kg daily | 0,5mg/kg daily |
| Dogs | Stress, arthritis, osteoarthritis, pain, anxiety, immune deficiency, cancer, nausea, epilepsy, loss of appetite, digestive problems, skin/fur | < 12kg: 2,5-5mg weekly 12-25kg: 5-10ml weekly 26kg > : 10-15ml weekly |
If necessary |
| Cats | Arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, chronic respiratory infections | 2 x 0,5mg/kg daily 2 x 0,2mg/kg daily 2 x 0,5mg/kg daily 2 x 5mg/kg daily |
If necessary |
Source: https://www.krankenkassenzentrale.de/produkt/cbd-tiere
The body absorbs the valuable ingredients best through mucous membranes, so the best method is to drip the CBD oil directly into the mouth under the tongue. That works very well with rodents in particular, but it isn’t possible with all animals. The alternative? Simply mix the CBD oil into the food, so you can easily treat your darling with CBD.
When it comes to buying, some points are to consider, one is concentration. As for us humans, CBD oil also is available for animals in different versions (usually between 5-10%). The higher the concentration, the lower the dosage; The table above is a guideline for CBD oil with 5%.
On the other hand, a sufficiently high quality is particularly important in order to avoid that your small or large darling inadvertently comes into contact with pollutants such as pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides or solvents. At that point it’s worth it taking a look at oils in the higher price segment, you’ll find many of organic quality or with a personal purity requirement.
CBD oils from Tom Hemp’s, for example, only are produced from EU-certified industrial hemp, which does not contain any of the substances mentioned above.
Finally, the question arises whether CBD oil can also cause side effects for animals. Generally speaking, there are hardly any known, which tends to be a good prospect. However, caution should still be required at some points, such as with pregnant animals. From a scientific point of view, it yet isn’t been finally clear whether CBD has an influence on the placenta, so better than sorry.
The phrase also applies to animals that have lost their appetite after consuming CBD oil: if they have weight problems anyway, they should definitely not lose any more weight. Ultimately, a drug cocktail is also not advisable; if your pet is consuming pharmaceuticals already, a preliminary talk with your trusted veterinarian is essential before you start administering the CBD. #tomhempsforpets
