Why Dog Owners Are Giving Their Pets Medical Cannabis
Like us and all other mammals, our lovable dogs and cats have cannabinoid receptors that allow them to feel the same effects of cannabis products that we do.
This includes the intoxicating effects of marijuana products along with the therapeutic non-intoxicating effects of hemp products like CBD oil by Innovet Pet.
Cannabis’ benefits can significantly help with everything from excess inflammation to cancer treatments while remaining safe for the majority of the population to take.
And this has brought attention to cannabis from all aisles of health, from your health guru to your dog’s veterinarian.
Let’s look at all the reasons so many dog owners are now giving their pets medical cannabis.
What is Cannabis?
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes both marijuana and hemp plants. While they look slightly different, they contain all the same compounds, but like their outside appearance, their chemical makeup is slightly different.
You see, where marijuana contains an abundance of a chemical cannabinoid called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), hemp plants don’t produce much of it.
Most likely because hemp plants originate from places where UV light intensity is low, and THC appears to be a result of UV light radiation or as we better know it sunburn.
While hemp plants already have low levels of THC, they can be bred to have even less, giving us crops we call “industrial hemp”. Industrial hemp is legally required to contain no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight. Other than that, it’s essentially identical to other cannabis plants.
So why all the hubbub about THC? Well, out of the many different therapeutic compounds in cannabis products — called cannabinoids and terpenes — THC is the only intoxicating cannabinoid that some cannabis plants produce enough of to cause a high.
In low amounts, THC doesn’t cause a high, but many of the therapeutic benefits it has can still be reaped.
Then, some animals, in particular canines, have more of the cannabinoid receptors that THC attaches to. Not only does this mean they will experience a much stronger high from marijuana products high in THC than us, but they can also much more easily overdose from THC where that’s unheard of in humans.
What this all means is that some cannabis products are safe for our furry pets while others aren’t appropriate.
But this confusion and delicate nature hasn’t stopped the increasing popularity of giving our dogs and cats cannabis hemp products like CBD oil to help out with a vast array of issues.
In fact, along with its notable safety profile, the array and potency of these benefits have been the reason for hemp products’ relentless popularity.
Ten years ago, you simply couldn’t give your dog or cat a cannabis product without weird looks and scorn. Today, denying your pet the benefits of them can bring about the same disdain.
This is because items like CBD oil, the most popular therapeutic hemp product, can help out with several issues that make daily life a struggle, from crippling inflammation to debilitating anxiety.
What is CBD?
Due to the way laws on cannabis plants have lumped everything under marijuana, forcing these crops underground for many decades, cannabis terms are pretty wonky.
Cannabis plants have hundreds of compounds with therapeutic benefits, and the vast majority of cannabis products have all of those included — giving them the term ‘full spectrum’.
Where high THC items are called marijuana products, cannabis plants with low levels are called CBD products (not simply hemp).
After THC, CBD or cannabidiol is the most abundant cannabinoid found in cannabis but is never intoxicating no matter the amount. Where cannabis products advertised as THC likely have just THC, most CBD products contain all the cannabinoids and terpenes.
Single-cannabinoid cannabis products are called isolates, but they are not very common for pets.
While this variation in terminology can be confusing, it actually works OK, because CBD products can be produced from marijuana crops because we can remove THC from them.
These CBD products are only legal in places that have legalized recreational or medical marijuana, however.
Most CBD products come from industrial hemp plants since those crops were legalized federally in the United States under the 2018 Farm Bill.
Because these crops are legally required to contain no more than 0.3% THC — an amount much too low to cause harm to a dog or cat — most pet cannabis products are full spectrum hemp CBD products.
Medical cannabis for humans can refer to either medical marijuana or hemp CBD.
Benefits of Medical Cannabis For Pets
Now that we know the important distinction between marijuana and hemp, which are both types of cannabis plants, let’s look at ways cannabis can benefit our pets.
Hemp CBD, the non-intoxicating form of medical cannabis, can help our dogs, cats, and even horses with a range of conditions, including inflammatory problems, epilepsy, chronic pain, and anxiety.
As you can see, these conditions are all very common in canines. With CBD’s ability to provide up to 8 hours of relief with each administration, a condition such as separation anxiety — that makes leaving your dog alone for work very difficult — becomes significantly easier to handle.
The compounds in cannabis work remarkably naturally with the body as they mimic compounds the body creates, allowing them to help support the Endocannabinoid System (ECS).
The goal of the ECS is to help the body maintain and carry out all the various tasks that keep it alive and healthy, known as homeostasis.
Some examples of homeostasis include temperature regulation, maintaining an active but not overactive nervous system, ensuring the inflammatory process doesn’t attack what it shouldn’t, and on.
With the ECS being at the center of health and wellness, cannabis compounds’ ability to support it can make them an excellent and safe supplement for daily wellness, along with help for certain medical conditions.