The medical hemp industry is booming like never before, sparking a lot of interest (and questions) for pet owners — is CBD safe for your pets? And, does hemp extract offer the same health benefits for animals?
Naturally, people are going to approach a veterinarian seeking answers. Some doctors are aware of the benefits of hemp, but some may try to talk you out of it. This is due to previous prohibition, lack of clinical studies, and stigma leading to a lot of misunderstandings.
But no more! In this article, find out what the rewards and risks are of CBD for pets.
Can you Give CBD to Pets?
The pet industry is COLOSSAL. It is projected that people in the USA alone will spend close to $109.6 billion on their pets in 2022. (APPA)
A large portion of this is thanks to the array of CBD products for pets. Of course, this stems from a lot of pet owners that are looking for safer, healthy, natural alternatives for their pets. So… here is how CBD can help your pets.
CBD for Dogs & Cats
While a lot of research is still going on, so far, researchers have found conclusive evidence that CBD can be given to dogs to help with various ailments.
The common ailments that CBD or cannabidiol can help your dog with include separation anxiety, arthritis, pain, injuries, seizures, etc. In addition, CBD products potentially promote improved quality of life and reduce pain perception in animals affected by canine osteoarthritis.
A similar principle applies to cats, you can use CBD to treat various ailments in cats, including painful conditions like inflammation and arthritis.
CBD is also helpful for anxiety in cats, which will help your cat avoid stress-related urinary crystals and appetite loss in the future.
CBD may even be useful for aiding cats suffering from seizures, pancreatitis, and cancer. Research is ongoing in these cases.
The health benefits of CBD on humans seem endless, with discoveries made almost every month. The same applies to pets. CBD can help with many of the same conditions that pets may suffer from. Here are the common ailments CBD can help your animals with.
Pain and Inflammation
Pets are prone to a lot of pain and inflammation, which may arise from various things they do, or due to a health condition. These include injuries they suffer from falling off the couch, eating a honeybee, or suffering from arthritis.
In these cases, CBD works as a terrific alternative to pharmaceutical pain medications. Traditional pain medications are infamous for causing stomach problems, sedation, and kidney problems. CBD does not induce any of these side effects.
Kidney Problems
Kidney issues are common in pets consuming pharmaceutical medications. CBD not only avoids this side effect but can also help treat various kidney ailments your pet may suffer from.
Anxiety
Anxiety is another common ailment that many pets suffer from, especially separation anxiety. Other forms of anxiety often arise from personality, illness, or age. While there are many traditional medications available for pets to deal with anxiety, they tend to make pets feel sleepy and sluggish. Instead, CBD comes in handy by calming down your pet’s system without any sedative effects.
Nausea and Appetite Problems
If your pet suffers nausea or appetite problems, which may make them vomit frequently or lose appetite, your pet is at a risk of dehydration and weight loss, which can significantly affect their health.
CBD and other cannabinoids present in cannabis can help your pet deal with nausea, prevent vomiting, and even stimulate appetite.
But this stimulated appetite is not the munchies that you may experience after consuming cannabis. Munchies are caused by THC, making you want to eat more by stimulating your olfactory senses. Instead, CBD works on the TCS receptors to stimulate appetite. It is a lot safer.
Seizures
CBD is gaining a lot of popularity for being an excellent treatment for epilepsy in humans. This prompted researchers to study CBD’s effect on pets suffering from epilepsy. And while studies are still ongoing, the findings so far point in a positive direction.
CBD can help your pets deal with seizures and appetite. How that works and to what extent is still unclear, but anecdotal evidence points out that it is just as safe for pets as it is for humans.
*** Important Information ***
Cannabinoids are helpful for pets, but not all forms of cannabinoids are. THC is highly toxic. CBD products are helpful, but you need to ensure it comes from hemp and contains no more than 0.3% THC.
Quality CBD products are extracted from the entire plant, not just the flowers, and it offers a terrific alternative to traditional medications for your pet.
CBD extracts are the best if you want to help your furry friends because they allow for precise dosages.
In a nutshell, CBD extract allows you to control just how much CBD your pet consumes and serves as a health supplement instead of a cannabis product.
If you have used CBD before, you might know that they are available as isolates, full-spectrum, and broad-spectrum products. Similarly, you have a range of CBD companies that offer full spectrum oils for your pets.
But, are full-spectrum products safe for your pets? You're probably thinking that you wouldn't touch those products with a 10-foot pole because of the inclusion of THC. However full-spectrum products created with the right dosage of THC and CBD are proven to be very beneficial.
Full spectrum extracts, whether for humans or animals, are more beneficial than broad-spectrum and isolates because they offer the therapeutic properties of the entire plant. There are numerous safety studies (like this one) that show without a doubt, Full Spectrum CBD oil for pets (including THC) is safe for all mammals.
Just remember that the dosage is very important. Just like the effectiveness of CBD depends on the dosage for humans the same applies to your furry friends as well. If you administer the proper dosage to your pet the benefits can be tremendous
Ready, set, go!
So, you’re ready to get some CBD products for your pet. Great! But how do you find a good product? Choosing the right CBD product for humans or pets is challenging because there are many fake companies in the market. The question quickly becomes: How do you ensure that the product for purchase is genuine? Well, here are a few things you should look for before making that purchase.
1. Source of hemp
High-quality hemp produces high-quality CBD oil — there's no doubt about that. Therefore it is important only to go for companies that source organic grown hemp.
If the company fails to post more details about their source of hemp you should probably move on and look for other trusted companies.
2. Lab reports
Many companies’ source inexpensive CBD isolates from undisclosed countries, mix them with some carrier oils, and pass them off as CBD oils. However, such oils can be contaminated with microbes, heavy metals, and other contaminants, making it dangerous to consume them.
Therefore the responsibility is on the customer to do some research and only go for companies that are genuine and trusted by many users.
The only way to figure out if a company is selling a genuine CBD product is to go through their lab reports. Lab reports will also tell you about each ingredient in detail apart from an in-depth description of any contaminants involved. It's even better if the products are tested through third-party laboratories.
Last but not least lab reports will tell you when the product was manufactured. Genuine companies constantly update their lab reports with lots of information so you know exactly what you are getting. If a company does not post their lab reports you can be sure that they can't be trusted.
3. Reputation
There is a lot of competition in the CBD industry, so companies have to work and put in a lot of effort to maintain their reputation. Many reputed companies offer a vast source of knowledge so you understand everything there is to know about CBD.
Trustworthy companies also share their method of extraction and their ways of developing their product, so you know exactly what your pet is consuming. Most importantly, you get some peace of mind knowing that you're giving the best CBD product to your pooch.
Genuine companies welcome customers with their questions, so don't be shy and shoot any questions you have. If a representative from the company helps you with your questions, provides lab reports, and sources certified organic hemp to create their products, your search ends there.
I hope this was informative and if you want your furry friend to benefit from CBD, you can contact us at High Glass Smoke Shop. Find us online and on Facebook.
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