CBD oil, yay or nay?

sawa

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How do we feel about CBD/hemp oil? I need opinions and suggestions.
For reference, Rory is an indoor cat but tends to be very skittish and I’m seeing more signs of stress and anxiety.
 

Maurey

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CBD oil has very low absorption in cats when given orally Single-Dose Pharmacokinetics and Preliminary Safety Assessment with Use of CBD-Rich Hemp Nutraceutical in Healthy Dogs and Cats so the efficacy and safety of it in cats is dubious. Additionally, it’s been found that, in general, CBD extracts that aren’t fully purified and still have some THC and some minor cannaboids are more effective (with fully purified CBD showing fairly mixed efficacy in humans, with it trending down in recent research), however, this very much hasn’t been tested for safety in cats. It’s certainly being used by some vets to manage end of life pain, but that doesn’t seem like the case here.
Have you tried other, more tested, methods of calming a cat down, that are safer? Thunder vests, Zyklene, Feliway, Pet Remedy, etc. Would help to know more of his background to understand why he’s so skittish.
 

Kieka

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I use CBD oil for my high anxiety cat. She won't tolerate anything physically on her, Feliway didn't do anything and I am leery of going hard-core psyc medications. That said, everything said above about the unknown of it is true. I get my oil from a manufacturer I trust based on customer reviews, history of the company, etc that I have found. They also claim to do third party testing for quality of their products. But CBD is risky in that it isn't fully understood but I kind of feel all the essential oil options are in the same category. I also am fully aware that without studies what I am doing could reduce her life or have unknown side effects (but again, the same can be said of essential oil blends and therapies). Her vet is fully aware and we do talk about it (at least as much as the law allows). And we do stop if she is sick so that CBD doesn't impact other treatments.

What I do know, is she's been getting it for 2 to 3 years now. I do take breaks from time to time and will adjust the dosage depending on her behavior. I give her the absolute minimum I can to see it impact her behavior. I slowly increased her dosage over several months to figure out what worked with an eye towards minimal dosage. I started at a quarter the manufacturers dosage to give you an idea of how low I started.

I do see her more relaxed and easier to live with when she is on CBD. Off CBD she sprays in the house and will attack the boys out of seemingly nowhere. I do fully believe that cats, in general, don't attack unprovoked but something unknown triggers her off CBD to go for the throat of the boys. She was the last to join the household so she's know both the boys for over 5 years and does love them 90% of the time. We aren't talking play fighting but full on kill you fights that the boys run from because even though they are twice her weight she is a demon child when she gets in those moods. Seriously, lock her in a room and wait for it to pass aggressive with the boys (luckily never after humans and I can herd her in those moments). With the CBD, she gets a little aggressive sometimes but not scary aggressive and I can get her out of it fairly easy. I say she is less stressed too because my interpretation is she has high anxiety and stress which causes her to see the boys as a threat in those moments. The reduced spraying and her being less possessive on CBD support my theory. If ever a cat needed to speak and see a therapist, Rocket needs to. But CBD does help level her off to a manageable place that she can coexist with the boys.
 

fionasmom

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And I am completely on the fence. I own it and am not sure that it ever did anything for my cat (only used on one of them) or dog. I was told by my vets to get organic only as it is a very polluted crop with pesticides and the like. I used Innovet. The only other caveat I have is that if your cat takes meds, CBD products can become pathway interrupters so you have to make sure it can be used with certain meds.
 

Kieka

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And I am completely on the fence. I own it and am not sure that it ever did anything for my cat (only used on one of them) or dog. I was told by my vets to get organic only as it is a very polluted crop with pesticides and the like. I used Innovet. The only other caveat I have is that if your cat takes meds, CBD products can become pathway interrupters so you have to make sure it can be used with certain meds.
I see more impact with Link and his arthritis. But I can visually see when his leg is bothering him more so it's easier to tell when it is helping. By that aligns with what I've researched that CBD is better for physical problems while a version with THC is better for mental problems. I did use a pet CBD with trace amounts of THC for a little while (had to go to a local dispenserary to get it). But Link did not handle the trace THC well which aligns with him not handling pain medications well either. Rocket seemed a little better with less of the THC version.

It really isn't a huge marked improvement for Rocket. Without CBD she tries to kill Fury about once a week and sprays every 2 to 3 days. With CBD she only occasionally gets annoyed with Fury outside and sprays maybe 2 time a month. It isn't a miracle problem solver but it does blur her edges enough that she can cohabitate with the boys. And I think a better definition of her problems is she's hyper-territorial and anxious about changes in her space. I really wish there were cat therapists, I have seriously considered an animal whisperer for her but she's good with humans in general. It's other cats she hates/is threatened by.
 

IndyJones

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Where do you think?
I personally don't want to use it on my cats or even myself for that matter. I just don't trust it enough. I know it's not weed but it comes from weed. I am very cautious about illegal drugs and personally don't want them or anything made from them in my body or my pet's. Especially when alternatives not made from illegal drugs are available.

This is my choice though. I don't have experience using cannabis or oils. But the little information and scientific studies available is inconclusive at best.
 

Kieka

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I personally don't want to use it on my cats or even myself for that matter. I just don't trust it enough. I know it's not weed but it comes from weed. I am very cautious about illegal drugs and personally don't want them or anything made from them in my body or my pet's. Especially when alternatives not made from illegal drugs are available.

This is my choice though. I don't have experience using cannabis or oils. But the little information and scientific studies available is inconclusive at best.
Where I live it isn't illegal, marijuana that is. The history of Marijuana is really interesting actually, it's old school medicinal dating back to the 1800's (probably earlier). However, most CBD on the market is from hemp not made from Marijuana plants; same plant family different chemical composition. Hemp isn't illegal its Marijuana specifically that is/was depending on where you live. But hemp is legal nationwide to be farmed commercially; regulated but legal. Which means CBD oil from hemp isn't illegal on any state in America; even places where Marijuana is illegal still.

CBD for cats studies are still inconclusive but the results for human studies aren't as much. There are older studies that seem inconclusive but they tend to have obvious biases. Of course the ones saying they are beneficial could be just as biased. But excluding ones that have obvious special interest funding what I've seen seems to agree that it works as a good anti-inflammatory at the very least. The physiological impact is a lot less foundation though but many studies agree that it is beneficial for anxiety.

I get why seeing it as illegal makes it unappealing. I actually agree that using modern medicine is the best option when it is an option. But Link reacts poorly to modern medicine for pain and inflammation. The last time he got modern pain medications, he was so out of it I had to carry him to the litter box and it triggered a whole host of other problems. If the choice for Rocket is between what is essentially tradition plant based medicine and hard core modern medications that we give humans with caution; I'll go with plants. Since it's not illegal in either form where I am I do realize that is one less consideration for me but I'd still do CBD from hemp in a state where that is legal but Marijuana is not.
 
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