CBD oil use in pets and people has been in the news a lot recently. There has been new interest in use of CBD in pets with the publication of an article about a study done at Cornell University. This study looked at two different doses of CBD oil obtained from Ellevet and showed no negative side effects at either dose. This study evaluated pain levels noted between placebo dogs and CBD treated dogs. The results of the study seem to support anectodal reports that show a reduction of pain with CBD administration. CBD has also been touted to help with anxiety, seizures and arthritis/pain. Learn more about CBD oil and studies in veterinary patients here, and here.
So why aren’t we using more of it in veterinary medicine? This comes from the current legal issues veterinarians could face because of the fact that cannabis is currently considered a schedule 1 drug (meaning that it is regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency). Patty Khuly, DVM discusses these concerns here .
So where does this leave you, your pet and your veterinarian? You can discuss this information with your veterinarian and they may guide you in a direction or even carry CBD products for you to buy. What your veterinarian does about CBD or even discussing CBD will depend upon the state you live in and the concern your veterinarian has about legal aspects of this product. The use of CBD in pets is on the rise and the current issues will hopefully be resolved so that veterinarians can feel comfortable discussing or providing CBD products that they have experience with.
At the very least, we recommend that any CBD you use in your pet has had some dog and/or cat studies behind it and the THC level of the product should be under 0.3 percent (this is a toxic substance to pets).
