It would be an understatement to say CBD is having a moment. CBD, or cannabidiol, is the completely non-psychoactive compound of marijuana.
It’s become the cure-all for humans, but recently, it’s also found to be effective for pets, like your dog.
Here’s more info on seven benefits of using CBD for dogs.
1. CBD for Dogs Is a Powerful Painkiller
CBD temporarily stops the absorption of anandamide. Anandamide is a chemical that sends signals of pain to the brain.
In other words, CBD works as a painkiller, so if your dog suffers aches and pains, CBD might be the natural answer.
CBD has also been shown to be a powerful anti-inflammatory. This helps reduce inflammation caused by arthritis. If your dog suffers from arthritis, CBD can help make life a little more comfortable for your dog.
2. CBD Can Prevent Your Dog from Having Seizures
One of the best-known medical uses for CBD is that it’s an anticonvulsant. This means it CBD can help keep tics, seizures, spasms, and even tremors under control.
In 2013, a study by the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that CBD helped a young girl with epilepsy control her seizures. Since then, it’s proven to help manage a range of tremors, spasms and tics and even on dogs.
3. CBD Is an Anti-Inflammatory
We mentioned early on how CBD works as a painkiller, but it’s worth repeating. CBD is known for its anti-inflammatory results. In fact, one of the main reasons CBD is able to treat a wide range of conditions is due to its anti-inflammatory ability, which can also help your dog.
CBD interacts with receptors in immune cells and the CB2 receptors inside immune cells. When CBS activates these receptors, it evokes a wide range of immune responses.
One of these immune responses is to fight inflammation that can cause conditions like arthritis, irritable bowel disease, MS, and anything else described as “chronic inflammation.” If your dog suffers from any of these conditions, CBD may be the answer.
Sometimes inflammation gets triggered by a malfunction of the immune system. When this happens, inflammation attacks healthy blood cells. So when CBD is able to lower inflammation, it can also help reduce pain from other symptoms and conditions like IBD, arthritis and more.
4. CBD May Reduce Anxiety
Not only does CBD help with physical symptoms it also can help manage symptoms from a range of mental conditions such as anxiety. If your dog suffers from anxiety, CBD might help.
Much like humans, pets can fall victim to anxiety, stress, or even specific phobias. Some common phobias dogs suffer from are separation and travel anxiety, and even phobias like Arachnaphobia.
You might not even realize your dog is suffering from these phobias, anxiety, and stress, so take a closer at your dog’s behavior. Similar to how humans bite their nails, pace around, or shake when we’re anxious, dogs will do the same thing. They just might do these activities with a little more repetition than humans.
You may notice that your dog is persistently barking, or chewing on items around your home like shoes, trash, or even your furniture. Other signs of anxiety include urinating or defecating inside your home or crate. They may also show signs of aggression or tremors.
Luckily, CBD can help decrease this anxious behavior, as it can temporarily increase serotonin levels in your dog’s brain. This increase in serotonin helps improve your dog’s mood to reduce fear and anxiety.
So, CBD will make your dog happier, which leads to less barking and destroying your home, which will make you happier.
5. CBD Can Help with Your Dog’s Nausea
If your dog suffers nausea and vomiting from treatments or medications like chemotherapy, CBD might be able to help. If your dog keeps vomiting and stays nauseous, this can lead to a decreased appetite, fatigue, extreme weight loss, dehydration, and many other uncomfortable symptoms for your dog.
Antiemetics can help your dog’s nausea and vomiting, but most of the ones available are not natural. These antiemetics can help control nausea and vomiting, but they can also cause sedation, excessive drooling, lack of appetite, and lethargy.
The good news is that CBD is a natural and successful antiemetic with added benefits. CBD can also help stimulate the appetite and reduce anxiety without making your dog fatigued.
6. CBD Can Slow Your Dog’s Tumor Growth
If your dog suffers from cancer and or has a tumor, CBD could slow down the growth of that tumor. Unfortunately, there is no cure for cancer, and the treatments available only slow down its growth. But they can also reduce pain from other symptoms.
Sure, you could put your dog through chemotherapy, but then you’re also subjecting your best friend to other side effects. These include loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
New research has shown CBD has an anticancer effect and slows down the growth and spread of cancer while also reducing the size of tumors.
7. CBD Can Help Your Dog’s Body Properly Function
CBD helps promote homeostasis, AKA the proper functioning of the body. When your dog’s body is balanced, all its biological systems function at their best.
Often this balance gets thrown off by disease or illness. Thankfully, there’s research that supports CBD as an aid to maintain this balance. This is why more dog owners use CBD to not only treat a specific illness but also as a regular preventive supplement for their dog.
Try CBD on Your Dog Today
Now that you know about all the incredible ways CBD can help, talk to your vet to see if CBD for dogs is right for your pet.
For more information on CBD, be sure to check out our blog.