USDA Organic CBD Products for Cats
CBD oil tinctures are quickly growing in popularity. You probably already knew that, but do you know that CBD products for cats are also becoming quite popular? It's true. In fact, a recent study concluded that as many as 50% of American pet owners treat their pets with CBD. Which is a lot of CBD, especially considering that the number of dogs and cats serving the role of companion animals (AKA "pets") in America currently adds up to around 135 million!
In this fast growing market sector, there are lots of companies unfortunately offering products that may be of subpar quality. This is due to the reality that there is little to no oversight and regulation in our modern CBD industry.
How to Tell If CBD Oil Tinctures for Cats are High Quality
One of the best ways to ensure that you are giving your cat high quality CBD oil is to verify that the CBD oil has been organically certified. USDA Organic Certification is a lengthy process that helps verify the integrity of both the growing and processing aspects of CBD hemp oil production. Essentially, when you give your cat USDA Certified Organic CBD Oil, you can be assured that the product has been grown and produced in a safe manner that is harmonious with nature.
It's possible that hemp plants that have not been grown in accordance with USDA Organic standards may have been treated with dangerous pesticides that will contaminate any oil made from them. It's also possible that non-organic hemp was grown in contaminated soil. Contaminated soil may contain such things as residual pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and heavy metals. Since hemp plants are known to pull such contaminates from the soil through a process known as phytoremediation—it's not only possible, but likely that oil and other CBD products made from plants grown in non-organic, contaminated soil—will also contain dangerous contaminates.
Third-Party Tested CBD Oil for Cats
Another huge factor in ensuring that the CBD oil that you are giving your cat is of high quality, is making sure that the oil has been third-party tested. If you don't know, third-party testing is simply a form of product testing that is done by a party that is neither the buyer or seller of the product.
The third-party testing of CBD products is most commonly done to verify their potency, often both for legal and quality assurance purposes. The quality assurance aspect is primarily concerned with ensuring that the product is as strong as it is advertised to be, with regard to the amount of CBD in the product. The legal aspect is primarily concerned with the amount of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆-9-THC) that the product contains. You may not know, but ∆-9-THC is the primary psychoactive chemical compound present in cannabis that gets people "high". CBD oil that is sold for retail purposes in the United States of America may not have delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆-9-THC) concentrations that exceed the current legal limit of .3% of the product's total weight.
In addition to the third-party potency testing of CBD products, other third-party tests are sometimes done. For instance, our CBD Oil for Pets is made with USDA Organic hemp extract that has been full-panel tested by a third-party lab. Full-panel testing is named such because of the vast amount of checks that have been performed on a given specimen. So, in addition to testing potency, a full-panel test will often check for other parameters such as: pesticides, fungus, heavy-metals, etcetera. We feel good knowing that our CBD Wellness products, as well as our CBD Oil for Pets, have been made with full-panel tested hemp extract.
Is CBD Oil Safe for Cats?
Despite its fast growing popularity, many cat owners are unsure about the safety of giving CBD products to cats. Although CBD hasn't been approved by the FDA, there have been studies which have supported its use as a possible veterinary medicine.
In one of these studies, cats were given escalating doses of either CBD, THC, or CBD and THC. Although we do not suggest giving high concentrations (greater than the legal limit of .3% concentration) of THC to cats, no cats had fatal reactions to the tests and the most common negative side effects were associated with products containing high levels of THC. The results of a different study supported the aforementioned results, with the authors stating, "hemp-based CBD appears to be relatively safe in healthy populations of dogs and cats".
Dr. Gary Richter, a holistic veterinarian, has said that CBD is generally safe for cats. However, giving your cat CBD isn't without risk of adverse side effects including gastrointestinal upset and some sedation. According to Richer, both side effects can be relieved by stopping the use of the CBD oil.
Dr. Richter seems to be most concerned about making sure that cats get the right amount of CBD oil, saying, “I think the bigger issue, from a medical perspective, is making sure that animals are dosed appropriately. This means that the CBD oil is having the affect you want it to have, and that you’re not accidentally overdosing.”
What are the Side Effects of Giving CBD to Cats?
Studies have noted several side effects of CBD oil ingestion in cats. These side effects include, but are not limited to:
- licking
- head shaking
- pacing
- chomping/chewing
- gagging
- vomiting (food, bile, or hairballs)
- salivating, drooling, or foaming
- jumping
- being uncooperative
- grimacing
How Much CBD Should I Give My Cat?
As previously mentioned, the appropriate dosing of CBD for cats is very important. Too little CBD may not result in the desired effects being achieved, while too much CBD may result in the negative side effects associated with overdosing.
Below is a chart that suggests various levels of dosing based on weight. It's important to realize that the "dose" pertains to the amount of CBD, and not the amount of CBD oil. For instance, our CBD Oil for Pets; which cats seem to love the taste of, contains 450 mg of CBD per 30 ml bottle. This translates into 15 mg of CBD per full 1 ml dropper. So, to administer a medium dose (3 mg) of CBD to a 10 pound cat (given the strength [15 mg of CBD per 1 ml of oil] mentioned in the prior two sentences), one would give the cat 1/5 of 1 full dropper of CBD oil.
CBD Dosing for Cats and Dogs (Suggested)
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The above chart is to be used in conjunction with all instructions from the product manufacturer. Please seek veterinary advice prior to administering CBD to a pet.
We also have CBD Pet Chews that have a low strength of 2 mg of CBD per chew that allow for easy and convenient administration of CBD to either a cat or dog. We suggest breaking them into pieces prior to giving them to a cat.
Cats Have an Endocannabinoid System
The reason that CBD and other cannabis products affect animals such as cats is due to the fact that they, much like humans, have what is known as an endocannabinoid system (ECS).
You may be wondering what an endocannabinoid system is. Medically speaking (per this article), the ECS is "a widespread neuromodulatory system that plays important roles in central nervous system (CNS) development, synaptic plasticity, and the response to endogenous and environmental insults. The ECS is comprised of cannabinoid receptors, endogenous cannabinoids (endocannabinoids), and the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of the endocannabinoids. The most abundant cannabinoid receptor is the CB1 cannabinoid receptors, however CB2 cannabinoid receptors, transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, and peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPAR’s) are also engaged by some cannabinoids."
Basically speaking, the ECS is a bodily system that creates, destroys, and responds to cannabinoids. This bodily system reacts to and is influenced by cannabinoids that have been introduced from sources outside of the body—from things such as CBD oil.
Influence to, and reaction from the ECS is kind of a big deal considering that this recent article from Harvard Medical School stated that, "The ECS regulates and controls many of our most critical bodily functions such as learning and memory, emotional processing, sleep, temperature control, pain control, inflammatory and immune responses, and eating."
Does CBD Help Cats?
As a CBD brand that hopes to succeed in this industry for the foreseeable future, it would be wrong of us to not answer this question with a high degree of caution. Despite all of the insightful information that we have linked in this blog post, we are unable to make any medical claims regarding CBD and products made with CBD—even medical claims about cats and CBD. That's because the FDA has not yet approved any of the types of products that we sell as viable, medical treatments.
We can link this article from the National Library of Medicine that discusses cannabinoids as a treatment for cats with feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS)—an oral disease causing inflammation and intense pain. Quoting from the article, "based on the present findings, ECS could be considered a potential therapeutic target for patients with FCGS".
We can also like this article which is also from the National Library of Medicine which discusses, "the therapeutic use of cannabinoids during gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases" in cats. The article says, "a growing body of literature indicates that activation of cannabinoid receptors may exert beneficial effects on gastrointestinal inflammation and visceral hypersensitivity".
We can also link this report that claims that:
- 44% of people who gave their pets CBD did so to ease anxiety or stress
- 21% of people who gave their pets CBD did so to ease pain
- 15% of people who gave their pets CBD did so for general health
- 13% of people who gave their pets CBD did so as an anti-inflammatory
Of those who gave CBD to their pets, the report mentions that:
- 67% reported that CBD had resulted in moderate to great improvement in their pets.
- 74% of respondents were likely or very likely to recommend CBD to other pet owners.
There is new information on CBD and cats being published regularly. As such, we encourage anyone reading this to do their own research into how CBD can help cats.
How to Give CBD to Cats
It's interesting how many times we get asked the question, "how should I give my cat CBD". Many people seem to struggle with the process of inserting a dropper of CBD oil into their cat's mouth, in an attempt to have the cat drink the oil from the dropper. We can understand that, which is why we don't suggest that method.
We've found that the easiest method of administering CBD to your cat has been to simply blend it into their food. Our Bacon Flavored CBD Oil has a taste that cats seem to love, and it's easily mixed into both hard and soft versions of cat food. Just be sure to follow the proper dosing guidelines from us or, more importantly, from your veterinarian.
Giving CBD oil to your cat is the most cost effective method of supplementing your cat with CBD. There are many companies that offer CBD pet chews, including us. However, although chews are often more convenient than oil, they are typically more expensive per mg of CBD than oil based products are.
Buy CBD Oil for Cats
Thanks for taking the time to read our blog post! You can buy CBD oil for your cat by clicking this link. Please reach out to us with any questions, concerns, or comments you may have. We try to respond to correspondence as soon as possible. We hope you enjoyed reading our blog!
