We typically think of CBD oil as something that is exclusively for human consumption. But thanks to the remarkable properties of this cannabis-derived product, it’s also now being increasingly given to dogs. Dogs are, in many ways, similar to people. They experience pain, fear and psychological disturbances just like we do and so it stands to reason that they may benefit from CBD oil, just as we have. Many of the underlying biochemical processes that cause problems for people also occur in dogs.
CBD oil is still a product very much in the early stages of development and research. It’s only recently that scientists began investigating the positive and negative effects of the substance and the endocannabinoid system, and so we still don’t know whether there are any profound risks, especially for dogs. What we do know is that many humans report feeling better in some way after consuming medical cannabis and that many of those benefits appear to extend to dogs.
Why Are People So Excited About CBD Oil For Dogs?
The news about CBD oil has spread fast. The chances are that if you’ve searched online for remedies to your Labrador retriever’s health problems, you’ll have come across mention of the substance. Cannabidiol seems to offer a host of benefits for dogs, from helping manage cancer to calming hyperactivity.
CBD oil is believed to work by helping dogs’ bodies return to homeostasis. Homeostasis is just a term medics use for “constant internal environment,” so CBD oil helps to restore their bodies to the ideal state. CBD oil generates balance and, in the process treats many common maladies.
Before we take a look at the benefits (and dangers) of CBD oil for dogs, let’s first take a look at some of the essential things you should know about this substance.
CBD Oil Is NOT Psychoactive
As you may know, CBD oil is a compound found in cannabis plant, but that doesn’t mean it will produce a “high.” Cannabis, like all plants, contains a wide variety of chemicals, each of which has a different action in the body. The psychoactive component which comes from the marijuana plant in cannabis is called THC, and this is what produces the high in people (and dogs). But CBD oil usually comes from cannabis varieties that do not contain any THC including hemp plants, meaning that psychoactive effects are not possible. Growers selectively rear cannabis plants that do not contain any THC, preventing harm.
CBD Appears To Be Safe For Dogs
As an owner of dogs or Labrador puppies, your main priority is the health and safety of your animals. Owners, therefore can be rightly worried about whether CBD products are safe to treat various issues such as chronic inflammation, chronic pain, and other psychological issues.
Researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil conducted a study published in the journal Toxicological and Food Sciences Analysis investigating whether CBD posed any threat to health. Their research indicated that cannabidiol (the main component in CBD oil) was non-toxic, does not induce changes in food intake, doesn’t affect the gastrointestinal tract, and doesn’t lead to any changes in psychological or motor function. In other words, it appears to be safe in both humans and animals so far tested.
Hemp Oil Vs CBD Oil For Dogs
Hemp oil and CBD oil both come from cannabis plants, but there are significant differences. CBD oil is made from the flowers, stalks and leaves of the cannabis plant – the parts of the plant high in the desired cannabidiol compound. Hemp oil, on the other hand, is made only from the seeds of the cannabis plant. Hemp is primarily used for its nutritional rather than medicinal purposes in dogs, offering a high level of beneficial fatty acids. CBD oil, on the other hand, is almost entirely geared toward the direct treatment of medical ailments, many of which we will discuss below.
The Benefits Of CBD Oil For Dogs
Just like people, dogs suffer from a range of physical and psychological conditions. Many of those conditions are difficult to manage, and so owners are looking for new ways to combat them and improve their dogs’ quality of life. While CBD is a relative newcomer, it’s alleged profound benefits in people and dogs is making it a popular treatment for animals with a variety of health issues. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits the compound may have for your dog.
CBD Oil May Slow Cancer Growth
Cases of cancer in pets often prove fatal, just like in people. But there’s emerging evidence that CBD oil for your furry friend with cancer may be beneficial.
At present, dogs with cancer get treated in much the same way as people: with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy helps to destroy the cancer cells, but at the same time, it damages the patient’s body. It’s a race to see which dies first: the cancer or the patient. Chemotherapy leads to all kinds of adverse side effects, like diarrhea, loss of appetite and lethargy. CBD oil may be able to target cancer differently. Like many plant compounds, CBD oil can inhibit some of the stages of cancer growth and development.
Take in Boston, Massachusetts. The study showed that CBD oil was able to induce something called “apoptosis” or programmed cell death. This is important. One of the reasons cancer cells persist is because they inactivate cell death. Cancer cells continue to grow and divide without curtailment. The researchers found that when they applied CBD oil to cancer cells, it appeared to induce apoptosis, giving hope that the substance might be able to prevent the growth of cancer in dogs.
Other animal research suggests that CBD oil may prevent cancer from being initiated in the first place. Before cancer cells can develop and metastasise, they need to form the propensity to become tumours in the first place. Researchers at the Univesity of Naples found that animals fed CBD oil saw less initiation of cancer cells and fewer cancers overall in their bowels.
When it comes to the science of CBD oil and cancer, it’s still early days and the amount of CBD oil will have to be determined by individual dog owners in consultation with your Vet. However, the initial research and anecdotal stories suggest that it may be beneficial and could possibly slow down or treat the condition in dogs.
CBD Oil May Reduce Anxiety And Stress In Dogs
One of the reasons medical professionals became so interested in CBD oil was its apparent ability to combat anxiety and stress in people. The cannabidiols in CBD oil appear to attach themselves to stress-inhibiting receptors in the base of the brain, reducing feelings of anxiety. Just like people, dogs can experience anxiety and stress, especially if they have come from an abusive environment, are travelling, or have phobias.
How do you know if your dog has a problem with anxiety or stress? Usually, these conditions manifest in the form of repetitive behaviors, such as constant chewing, aggression, tremors or barking. The good news is that CBD oil may help. CBD oil seems to be able to target a special kind of serotonin receptor in the brain. By upregulating these receptors, CBD may boost the level of serotonin in the brain, helping dogs to feel better, more cheerful and less anxious. Many people use CBD oil for hyper dogs.
CBD Oil May Reduce Inflammation
Researchers believe that inflammation – the body’s response to trauma – may underlie many of the most severe medical conditions experienced by both people and dogs. Inflammation is good in the short term: it helps to battle infection and repair wounds. But chronic lifestyle-induced inflammation is harmful to the body in the long-term and can lead to a host of medical conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
CBD oil, however, may be a natural anti-inflammatory. The best CBD oil for dogs interacts with immune cells to reduce unwanted responses. Take inflammatory bowel conditions, for instance. These diseases come about as a result of the immune system mistakenly attacking healthy cells in the body, believing them to be foreign invaders. CBD oil doesn’t reprogram the immune system to prevent this, but instead selectively downregulates the action of immune cells, leading to a reduction in symptoms.
CBD oil isn’t like an immune-suppressing drug: it doesn’t knock out the immune system as a whole. But it seems to act on the immune system in just the right way, reducing instances of autoimmunity while at the same time, allowing dogs to fight off other infection. Less immune cell action against the body’s cells means less pain and fewer symptoms.
CBD Can Reduce Pain In Dogs
Before any science was done on CBD oil, people had already experimented with it extensively because of its apparent ability to reduce pain. It took the scientific community some time to catch up, but now we have evidence that CBD oil does indeed offer pain relief. CBD oil appears to reduce pain in dogs through a variety of mechanisms. One of the ways it does this is by reducing the absorption of anandamide, one of the chemicals that signal pain in the brain.
As we discussed earlier, CBD oil also appears to reduce inflammation, reducing the propensity to feel pain overall. Lower inflammation often means less pain overall in conditions like IBD and arthritis.
CBD Oil Can Reduce Nausea And Vomiting
If you’ve owned a Labrador for any significant period of time, then you’ll no doubt have come across instances where they have vomited. Vomiting often indicates a severe problem with your dog’s health and should be checked out by a qualified veterinarian.
Currently, veterinary professionals treat nausea and vomiting in dogs with a range of drugs like aminopentamide and chlorpromazine. The problem with these drugs is that like most pharmaceutical interventions they have several unwanted side effects. These side effects include excessive drooling, sedation, low blood pressure and, yes, more diarrhea.
CBD oil, however, may help to reduce vomiting and nausea, without any of the common unwanted side effects. It appears that when dogs take CBD oil over the long term, they experience sufficient stimulation of a particular receptor in the brain to reduce the vomit reflex. Evidence suggests that cannabinoids in CBD oil may be better at preventing vomiting that most conventional drugs on the market, and with fewer side effects.
Dangers of CBD oil
Many people worry that CBD oil might be dangerous for their dog. But as we discussed earlier, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that CBD by itself can cause harm. It interacts with the body in beneficial ways.
Responsible pet owners should still, however, exercise caution. First, CBD oil in Ontario has only been around for a limited time. Researchers still don’t know much about the long-term consequences of taking the substance over the long-term. We still need more science to be done to determine the effectiveness of cannabinoids, in general, to ensure that they are as safe as many of the other phytochemicals dogs get in food in their daily diet.
Second, owners need to be aware that some CBD-marketed products may contain THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis. THC is not suitable for dogs and steps need to be taken to ensure that your CBD oil is free from THC.
Third, some products are marketed as containing hemp oil. Remember, hemp oil and CBD oil are different things. Hemp oil is mainly a nutritional product, designed to provide certain hard-to-get fatty acids in the diet. CBD oil is a medicinal product that offers a host of benefits, as discussed above.
Finally, not all CBD oil is organic. Because of this, some brands of CBD oil may contain high levels of unwanted chemicals, like fungicides and pesticides. If you want to avoid these, then choose organic-only CBD oil.
Conclusion
The majority of CBD oil products for dogs are marketed as being able to calm dogs and make them feel less stressed. Manufacturers mix a small, dog-friendly dose of CBD oil into their food, making the task of administering it easier for owners.
CBD oil, however, may offer dogs a range of benefits with few drawbacks. Like so many plant-derived chemicals, it exerts almost entirely beneficial effects on the body and helps to avoid the side effects of standard treatments for a range of conditions.
I use this CBD oil for my dog and it helps calm him when there are approaching thunder storms, fireworks, and also helps ease his joint pain.
