Hardly a day goes by when a client doesn’t ask me about CBD products. Many companies are marketing CBD oil for pets, mostly dogs, to manage pain, arthritis, seizures, and anxiety. Clients want their pets not to hurt, nor seize, and not to get high. So What’s Up with CBD?
CBD is short for Cannabidiol, one of several cannabinoid compounds naturally produced to the Cannabis plant. CBD isn’t THC (the one that is psychotropic), and does have many medicinal properties that we are trying to figure out. Unfortunately, we have only recently discovered the naturally occurring endocannabinoid receptor in our body, just like we have natural opioid receptor that react to derivatives of opium, another plant based compound.
Legally, cannabis is tricky too. The FDA has classified it as Controlled Schedule I, the most dangerous category, which has stifled legitimate testing for decades. The climate is changing, and it is now legal to grow industrial hemp in several states. Hemp by legal definition produces less than 0.3mg THC, but it looks identical to the marijuana plants that do make THC. So Hemp makes CBD in different amounts and wonderful other compounds, called terpenes, which are the aromatic essential oils which also have effects on living systems.
There are several well-constructed completed University run therapeutic drug trials with CBD for dogs with specific diseases, and many more on going. Eventually, we want to know the ideal dose of CBD (and other terpenes) for different disease conditions, which form is best absorbed (oral chews, sublingual tinctures, or even topical), how often to give, can it be given with other medicines (like for arthritis & seizures dogs that are already on meds), side effects, and most importantly—-Which product is the “best”?
I have just completed a six hour online course to learn more about this new category of medicine, and I don’t have the answers, but I am learning what questions to ask at least.
If you are looking at a pet CBD product, ask for the Certificate of Analysis. It should come from an independent lab, show all the different cannabinoid compounds, but especially CBD, and THC. Ideally, it would include terpenes. And it should be recent and on this specific batch or lot, not something done 18 months ago. “Organic” is also preferred due to less pesticide residues. Look for grown in America, not overseas. Keep a log of your pet’s response and dose. If it is helping, keep using it and try to use the same product next time, knowing that CBD is derived from a plant, and each batch could be slightly different. Just like wine, a bottle of Cabernet this year will be different than one last year, even from the same vineyard, even on the same vines. The wines may have the same alcohol content, but may taste slightly different. For CBD and terpenes, those variations could make all the difference in the medical response.
Stay tuned for more CBD updates as they occur.
For more information and terminology: https://www.veterinarycannabis.org/guidelines-for-pet-parents.html
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-regulation-cannabis-and-cannabis-derived-products-questions-and-answers#approved
veterinarynews.dvm360.com/cornell-takes-lead-cannabidiol-research
https://www.akcpetinsurance.com/blog/cbd-oil-for-dogs
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2018.00165/full
https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/terpenes-the-flavors-of-cannabis-aromatherapy
https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/understanding-cannabis-testing