Dogs tend to become a part of the family quickly. We are very connected to our furry friends, and we tend to notice everything that happens to them.
Most dog owners are always on the lookout for tips to keep their pets healthy and in a good mood. CBD is the latest thing in dog food supplementation and many are still unsure when and why to add this to their dog’s diet.
We’re going to discuss the benefits, potential side effects, and right dosage of CBD for your dog so you can use it safely and without worry. To see an example of a specialized dog CBD product, click here.
For another interesting article on this topic Click Here
The Benefits
Since dogs have, more or less, the same endocannabinoid system as humans, they can reap the same benefits as us. Here are the conditions that CBD may help dogs overcome or at least keep under control.
- Pain relief – One of the primary uses of CBD in humans and dogs is to assist with managing chronic pain. This is especially true when talking about neuropathic pain. If your dog has a condition he/she deals with daily, CBD use should be a serious consideration.
- Anti-Anxiety – Dogs can develop anxiety due to multiple reasons. For example, they may have survived abuse or were abandoned, so they develop separation anxiety. If you notice your dog experiencing excessive fear and anxiety CBD can help manage that.
- Seizures and spasms – CBD is a natural anticonvulsant, and as such, it can be suitable for treatment and prevention of spasms, tics, seizures, and tremors of various sorts.
- Improved appetite – This is a commonly discussed benefit of CBD use. Keep in mind, if your dog gets its appetite back and starts getting overweight, you should stop using CBD as they no longer need it.
- Insomnia – Sleeplessness is a dreadful condition making dogs lose focus, unable to hold their temper, making them irritable, etc. CBD is often used to improve sleep and can help with long-term sleep regulation.
- Skin conditions – Due to the connection between the endocannabinoid system and skin regulation, CBD can help with rashes, scar healing, etc.
There are numerous other possible benefits, but we wanted to show you the most widespread reasons animal lovers consider using CBD with their dogs. Let’s see what some of the potential downsides of CBD use are.
Side-effects
The most well known side-effect of using CBD to treat dogs is possible sleepiness (which is the desired effect in some cases).
Keep in mind that cannabis is not typically considered safe for your dog, and the reason is that it contains THC. However, a dog targeted CBD hemp oil does not have dangerous THC levels, even though some human variants might. In a lot of cases, people give their dogs CBD oil intended for human use, and the THC levels are not always appropriate for animal use, so keep in mind that they can’t always be used interchangeably.
The reason why people tend to do this is that dog CBD products tend to be more expensive, but in most cases, the money isn’t worth the hustle of worrying if you did everything right.
Dosage
This is where it gets a bit tricky.
The right dosage for your dog will depend on two things:
- Your dog’s weight;
- The strength of the formula you are giving them;
The math you should be doing when calculating for your dog’s weight is this: 0.2mg of CBD per pound.
Most CBD products have a specific formula strength, and it is usually displayed on the label. This shows how many mg of CBD the liquid contains per ml. For example, a 75 mg formula usually contains 2.5 mg of CBD per ml. However, there can be other variations of formula strength and these should be considered before actually giving any CBD product to your dog.
This means that a dog that weighing 25 pounds, using a 75 mg formula should get 2 ml of CBD to hit that 5 mg sweet spot intended for its weight.
The general advice is to start with a dosage smaller than the proposed dosage and take it from there. Sometimes you won’t even need to max out the suggested dosage to get the benefits you are after. This is especially true if you are giving your dog CBD just for the general benefits.
For more information on how to better understand dosage Click Here
Conclusion
We hope we managed to make the use of CBD for dogs a bit less of a mystery. Of course, before you give your dog CBD, you should consult a vet and see if your dog can manage the therapy.
The CBD products intended for dogs make things quite a bit easier as the treats and oils come with dosage instructions and don’t contain anything that may harm your dog. Good luck!
