They’re your roommate, your hiking buddy and your confessional confidant. They are always there to greet you with a ‘good morning’ tail wag and the first to say ‘hello’ when you return from a hard day at work.
They are your protector and your Ride ‘R Die loyal companion. They are your dog–And they deserve the best you can give them!
That means providing them the best pet wellness care possible, including using phytonutrient rich CBD oil to heal, repair and rejuvenate their aging bodies.
What Is the Best CBD Oil for Dogs?
CBD oil is a versatile natural plant-based product that can correct a wide variety of underlying K9 health issues, from anxiety to chronic inflammation, and can greatly improve the Quality of Life of your dog.
So, finding a quality CBD oil is crucial to help support and comfort your furry friend as they grow older.
Every dog is unique and it’s important to find a CBD oil that works for you and your dog. By reviewing the literature and applying a commonsense approach to cannabinoid therapy you can make a more informed choice of the best CBD oil for your dog’s specific situation.
CBD Oil Benefits for Dogs
In recent years, CBD oil has become the cornerstone therapy for pet owners to treat a diverse range of physical ailments & behavioral conditions suffered by their furry home companions. Especially age-related K9 degenerative joint diseases like arthritis and stress-related anxiety conditions.
Just like humans, CBD offers an abundance of health benefits for dogs. Pets can suffer from stress–from unfamiliar social situations, separation from their owner, and ‘noise-phobia’ type stress caused by loud noises such as fireworks.
Now more than ever, CBD oil is used to treat canine aches & pains, skin allergy conditions, digestive disorders to give dogs effective relief that was only partly available from costly prescription medications.
Studies on CBD have uncovered evidence to back up the claims that CBD helps to relieve the symptoms of these canine conditions, including:
- Alleviating effects of depression, and stress disorders
- Reduce the frequency and duration of epileptic seizures
- Significant reductions in chronic pain
- Reduction in chronic inflammation
- Reducing symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease
- Reduce the impact of neurodegenerative conditions
- Improvement of appetite and reduce nausea
- Alleviate vascular damage, lowering blood pressure and heart rate
Still, with all the advantages of cannabidiol–what is the best CBD oil for dogs?
Best CBD Oil for Dogs with Arthritis
As your dog ages, you may have noticed they don’t recover from minor strains and sprains quite as quickly as they used to–they may be developing chronic, degenerative joint issues like arthritis.
If you’re the pet parent of a dog that suffers from arthritis, you’ll know that it can be difficult to manage their pain and discomfort.
Dogs are no different than humans when it comes to the effects of aging. With aging comes wisdom but, unfortunately, it’s often accompanied by painful, swollen joints. But now CBD oil (made by extracting cannabidiol from the hemp plant) has shown to be a solution for dogs developing joint and mobility problems.
CBD is trusted by thousands of pet parents around the world for the treatment and management of arthritis in dogs.
In some cases, if you catch the condition early enough you may be able to relieve your dog’s symptoms with natural hemp oil and avoid costly surgery and prescription medications.
Although NSAIDs help manage pain and reduce inflammation, all medications come with a risk of side effects. So pet owners concerned about giving their dog’s pharmaceutical drugs are turning to more natural, holistic pet care alternatives, including hemp CBD oil therapy.
Research On CBD Oil for Dogs with Arthritis
Veterinary research for companion animals is often behind the curve when it comes to the application of CBD in real-life situations. Part of this has to do with the money needed to develop new drugs, which, in many cases, can only be found at pharmaceutical giants concerned mostly with human markets.
However, recent veterinary research on CBD oil for dogs with arthritis has found this natural plant therapy shows promise for improving your pet’s health.
One of the most relevant studies that owners of dogs with arthritis should be aware of was conducted by the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in 2018. Researchers administered a full-spectrum CBD oil to dogs with Osteoarthritis at an oral dosage of either 2 mg or 8 mg per kg twice daily.
The dogs in the study were assessed before the trial began, as well as at two and four weeks into treatment. The researchers found that the 2 mg-per-pound dose effectively reduced the dogs’ visible signs of pain and significantly improved their activity and mobility.
In the veterinary study, CBD significantly decreased pain and increased mobility in a dose-dependent fashion among animals with an affirmative diagnosis of OA.
Is CBDA More Effective for Dogs with Arthritis Pain?
What Is CBDA (Cannabidiolic Acid)?
Any discussion about CBD oil for dogs with arthritis would not be complete without a review of CBDA, a cannabinoid component within the hemp plant that can affect pain levels where NSAIDS cannot be used.
While there’s mounting evidence of Cannabidiol (CBD) being an effective alternative therapy for canine conditions like separation anxiety, arthritis, skin allergies and cancer, it might be surprising to learn that the hemp plant actually contains very little CBD.
In it’s natural state, raw hemp is composed of 95% CBDA (Cannabidiolic Acid) and only about 5% is in the form of CBD (Cannabidiol). But can CBDA offer superior benefits for dogs with joint pain & inflammation?
Is CBDA Better For Pain Than CBD?
With so much emphasis being placed on the research and commercial development of CBD, little was known about the potential therapeutic benefits of its chemical precursor, Cannabidiolic Acid. Though quality research on CBDA is sparse, some scientists are looking into the therapeutic potential of this predominant cannabinoid and finding abundant health benefits to comfort and care for our canine companions.
According to current published research, many conditions that respond well to CBD may also respond to CBDA–only better! And thanks to its natural anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic effects, CBDA in hemp provides an array of medical applications to support dogs with cancer, epilepsy & pain associated with osteoarthritis, hip-dysplasia or degenerative-joint-disease (DJD).
Is CBDA Considered a Good Substitute For NSAIDS?
The efficacy of using CBDA as a substitute analgesic for non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) shows immense promise for dogs with chronic pain.
While there have been no human or animal studies that examine CBDA as a treatment for arthritis or inflammatory conditions, laboratory research in cell cultures has discovered that CBDA seems to work in a remarkably similar way to common non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs like Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen–but without the increased risks of peptic ulceration or kidney damage associated with the use of NSAIDS.
Studies suggest that CBDA may NOT interact with the endocannabinoid system (ECS); but rather, CBDA affects other non-endocannabinoid receptors and enzymes. Researchers speculate that the analgesic, anti-inflammatory effects of CBDA are based on the way it interacts with an enzyme called COX-2.
There are two types of cyclooxygenases (COX-2) enzymes, COX-1 and COX-2. Both enzymes produce prostaglandins that promote inflammation, pain, and fever but it’s the COX-2 enzyme that is the primary target site for anti-inflammatory drugs and the recent focal point of research into CBDA as a preferable pain-management therapy.
While NSAIDs block the COX-2 enzymes and reduce production of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins, CBDA can also perform this chemical interference but do so without the negative side-effects associated with prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications (OTC).
Interestingly, the researchers found that CBDA seemed to affect the COX enzyme while other cannabinoids, like psychoactive THC, was a much less potent inhibitor of COX-2 enzyme.
Similarly, these lines of evidence suggest that naturally occurring CBDA in hemp is a selective inhibitor for COX-2 and worth further investigation as a natural pain relief alternative for dogs at risk of harmful side effects from NSAIDS.
The Best CBD Oil for Dogs Is a Combination Of CBD+CBDA
While CBD (the non-acidic form of cannabidiol) has received a great deal of attention and praise for its ability to positively affect the health and well-being of our dogs, more research is necessary to learn if CBDA can offer better relief for chronic pain or neurological disorders in dogs than currently available prescription or OTC medications.
Preliminary findings indicate a combination of CBD+CBDA likely holds significant potential for the effective relief of painful canine conditions and offers pet-parents a viable option to NSAID analgesics.
So, if you’re looking for an all-natural way to reduce your dog’s arthritis pain, control seizures and scale down your dog’s anxious behavior without the negative adverse side-effects of prescription medications, then the best CBD oil for dogs is a combination of CBD (to support the Endocannabinoid System) plus CBDA (from non-decarbed hemp) is just what you’re seeking to effectively comfort your ailing pet.
Curtis has been passionate about the health and welfare of animals since his first dog rescue.
After studying Sports Medicine & Biology at the University of Oregon, Curtis went on to excel in a career of Clinical Nutrition, later owning a health care supplement company serving private-practice physicians.
Known for his expansive knowledge of natural health and alternative medicine, Curtis believes that natural plant-based therapies can be applied to veterinary animal care which led him to study the science of Cannabinoid Medicine. His expertise in Functional Medicine led him to formulate a unique hemp-based canine care product, Canine Support Formula, fulfilling a dream to combine natural pet-care strategies with the new therapeutic potential of medical cannabis.
In reverence for his own dog, Parker, Curtis has dedicated his company–K9 Medibles–to improving the health and longevity of all dogs.
To learn more about Curtis and how K9 Medibles can help your dog, click HERE.