- Pet

Can I Use CBD as Pain Relief for My Dogs?

Science suggests that CBD has lots of benefits for human beings. Pain relief is on top of the list, and this has opened up space for thoughts on whether it can also have similar effects to the man’s best friends; the dogs.

This is partly because the sources or causes of pain in dogs are varied, and it may not be easy to diagnose each pain and find a treatment for it. However, CBD will provide you with the most straightforward route for managing the pains due to the way it interacts with receptors that regulate pain in the body.

How CBD Helps With Pain Relief in Dogs

Now, CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is one of the over 80 compounds that’s naturally occurring in the cannabis plant. Essentially, it is not psychoactive but comes with a good number of medical benefits, just like THC.

Because of this, you can freely administer it to your dog without fear of the dog having the ‘stoned’ feelings that come with THC. For pain relief, the dogs have an Endocannabinoid System (ECS), which interacts with lots of compounds, and CBD is one of the primary compounds that it attracts.

When the receptors in the ECS catch CBD, they allow it to move along the nervous system, all the way to the brain and related body organs to suppress different levels of pain. It achieves this by inhibiting certain compounds in the ECS that make the dog feel pain.

How to know if your dog is in pain

Unfortunately, dogs can’t speak and they suffer in silence most of the time. Here are a few signs to watch for if you suspect that your dog is in pain;

  • When it is depicting an unusual aggressive behavior. If the dog is in pain, it may start being unsocial or just gets aggressive. Therefore, if the dog begins to be more aggressive or tends to hide away from the family, it could be a sign of pain.
  • Loss of appetite and too much sleep. When your dog is in pain, it may start to sleep most of the time and eat lesser. The simple explanation behind this change in behavior is that your pet could simply be trying to heal, or the pain is inhibiting their movements. Loss of appetite could also signal discomfort, and if it has difficulty eating firm chews or dried food, it could be having dental problems.
  • Too much (unusual grooming). If your dog starts licking some parts of their body unusually, it is trying to soothe the pain in that region. If it’s a cut, you’ll easily spot it.
  • Change in body posture. A dog may also adopt a rigid-hunched stance when in pain. It may also assume a ‘prayer’ position though this is mainly common when they’re having stomach problems.
  • Restlessness. A dog that’s struggling to get asleep, repeatedly pacing back and forth, growling, snarling, or heavily panting could also be dealing with a troublesome pain or internal injury. It would help if you had it assessed.

How to Administer CBD to Your Dog

You don’t want your dog to start getting restless instead of being calm after ingesting CBD to help ease their pain. Because of this, you must only purchase the products from certified vendors. 

Usually, the vendors will let you know that the product is 100 percent THC free or that THC levels in them are less than 0.3 percent. Confirm these claims by verifying lab reports which could be published on the vendor’s website. Either way, you can also check how the company verifies the authenticity of the product.

A perfect example of a proper verification process for cannabidiol products is this one used by Botanicam. This approach follows a 12-step process in screening the products to ensure that they’re safe for consumption.

Here’s a breakdown of the top ways to administer CBD to the dogs;

  1. Use or infuse it with homemade treats. You can add CBD oil to the homemade treats that your dog loves then give it to them. However, take care not to add it to baked treats as the baking process could make the oil evaporate and leave no positive effect on your pet.
  2. Mix it with tasty dog foods. An excellent example of tasty treats that you can easily mix CBD oil with for your dog is the peanut butter. It is mainly recommendable since it’s delicious and easily mixes since it contains oil too.
  3. Place the cannabidiol in the dog’s mouth. This is the simplest option that will also give the pet the exact dosage amount for cannabidiol. You can do this by administering the CBD oil in the form of drops in its mouth. Be gentle to avoid making the dog aggressive.
  4. Dilute CBD oil with water. For this option, you must be keen to use the appropriate dosage to ensure that the pet gets all the required CBD benefits. Since high quality CBD oil are tasteless and has no strange smells, it will be easy for the dog to drink it in water.

Possible CBD Risks with Dogs

CBD is naturally safe and should not pose any complications to your dog when used in the right proportions. Therefore, before administering them, be sure to follow your vet’s instructions on the proper dosage to administer to the pet. Here are a few possible risk factors.

  • Dry mouth. There are a few reports that CBD might reduce the rate of saliva production in dogs. You can notice this in the dog if it displays ‘cravings’ for water.
  • Drowsiness. The calming effect that comes with CBD may not just bind the pain. If you administered it in a high dosage, your dog might display signs of slight drowsiness.
  • A lowered Blood Pressure. This effect is also more likely to occur if you administer the supplements in a high dosage. It would cause a small dip in blood pressure in the dog.

 

Get High Quality CBD Oil for Your Dog

Depending on your preferences, you can purchase CBD in the form of dog treats that are already infused with CBD. When making the purchase, though, be sure to review the certificate that shows how much CBD is in the product. Too much could be dangerous, and too low may also be useless.

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