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- First of all - giving medical cannabis to cats and dogs without sufficient knowledge can cause your pets serious health problems
- Only specially prepared, correctly formulated and dosed cannabis preparations can help pets in cases of pain, seizures or even fear or anxiety
A new medical trend is currently spreading among pet owners, especially owners of cats and dogs - giving very small doses of medical cannabis or only a substance obtained from it - CBD (cannabidiol). The most common reason here is an effort to relieve the pain, inflammation or even anxiety mentioned above. But what do we really know about the mechanism of action of plant-based, medical cannabinoids once they get into the bodies of our pets? Unfortunately, not much so far. There are, however, already a few findings worth pointing out. Research neglected for decades is returning and bringing interesting statistics.
“The number and depth of studies to date are not yet sufficient for us to be able to claim with one hundred per cent certainty that substances from medical cannabis are also able to help cats and dogs. Nevertheless, recent results of a Cornell University study point to extremely promising findings.”
Just as with people, the question of using medical cannabis in the case of cats and dogs is very complicated. The number of thorough studies today is simply insufficient with regard to complete certainty about the effectiveness and safety of using cannabis substances for dogs and cats. The whole thing is, however, starting to gain momentum, and this also applies to our four-legged friends. For example, in July of this year extremely promising results came to light from a study that looked at the use of CBD obtained from industrial hemp for dogs suffering from arthritis. The results were published in the official international scientific journal “Frontiers of Veterinary Science”.
The study entitled “Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Clinical Efficacy of Cannabidiol Treatment in Osteoarthritic Dogs,” was led by the leading doctor Joseph Wakshlag, who works at Cornell University. Wakshlag and his colleagues measured the effectiveness of a specific CBD product from the brand ElleVet Sciences, which they administered to canine subjects with the aim of measuring how effective the medicine would be against the dogs' pain and their arthritis symptoms.
“The results of the study were, at the very least, very encouraging: more than 80% of the dogs showed a considerable reduction in pain. In addition, we also observed a marked improvement in mobility, that is, the overall ability of the animals to move.”
Other studies of cannabis on animals
However promising the results may be, this is still only one study, and no sensible owner should make decisions about the care of their pets on the basis of a single result. Unfortunately, there are not many more to be found so far. Fortunately, though, further ones are already on the way thanks to the results so far. The lack of knowledge on this topic is beginning to appear absolutely acute, and it is clearly time for us to start better understanding the political, ethical and scientific implications of studies on the use of medical cannabis for cats and dogs.
Most vets cannot even touch CBD
First of all, the following point needs to be mentioned: the overwhelming majority of vets cannot afford even to mention cannabis preparations as possible help for your pets, regardless of their personal or professional approach to the cannabis issue. Each state has its own laws and, moreover, its own veterinary board. Even in the very mecca of medical cannabis, California, an official statement of the California Veterinary Medical Board says: “There is no provision in the California veterinary law that allows veterinarians to prescribe or recommend cannabis-based medicinal preparations in any way for the purpose of treating animals. Veterinarians who do not comply with this provision are in breach of the law.”
Last year an interview on this topic was published in the cannabis magazine Leafly. The editors asked Oakland vet Gary Richter what his view of the matter was. Gary explained that at that time he was working on an online petition called “compassionate care”, aimed at changing the law regarding the possibility of recommending CBD for dogs and cats in the state of California. The online petition has caught on since then, and Gary recently announced that the bill is already passing through the legislature and has been signed by Governor Jerry Brown. “I am very pleased with the progress of the process that we have achieved since last year,” explains Gary. “The law is still far from perfect, but everything is moving in the right direction.”
“Giving CBD to dogs suffering from arthritis is so far the most common use of medicinal substances derived from cannabis in the treatment of animals.”
Dr Richter further explains that his enthusiasm and will to push through a new veterinary law regarding the possibility of prescribing CBD stem from personal experience. “I have had the opportunity to see the effectiveness of CBD administered against arthritis occurring in dogs countless times. Even so, if any of us vets today merely recommends CBD as possible help, we can face the lifelong revocation of our veterinary licence.”
Richter goes on to compare marijuana treatment in humans and animals: “Almost any cannabis treatment that shows therapeutic potential in humans may well also be applicable in the case of animals. Pain, inflammation, gastrointestinal problems, stress, anxiety, tremor seizures, cancer and so on. We have had the opportunity to observe improvement in all of these areas. But if you so much as mention anything on this topic in front of a client in the surgery, you face potential consequences that can affect the whole rest of your career.”
Research into cannabis treatment 2018 (The veterinary view)
Even though getting any thorough research into the effects of medical cannabis started is still very problematic, some researchers have not been deterred, and the last year of research has thus brought us further promising results. The potential of medical cannabis, and especially of CBD, is now further encouraging its use not only among scientists but also among the owners of four-legged friends.
“If my dog ever started suffering from arthritis, I would certainly reach for some cannabis preparation straight away. Not only that, I would reach for it as the very first possible choice.” Joseph Wakshlag, Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine
Scientific data describing the effects of CBD on dogs' bodies were literally non-existent until recently. It was only in April last year that the official veterinary council declared the following: “We are experiencing an acute lack of data describing the effects of cannabis on animals. This lack is a cause of concern for many vets and also a direct consequence of the long-standing prohibition of marijuana.”
The persistent view to date, which holds that medical cannabis is toxic for dogs and cats, is based mainly on incidents in which pets accidentally ingested a large amount of their owner's “home stash”.
And indeed - a study based on these data concluded as early as 2004 that cannabis is toxic for dogs. The specific result here was that “from 1998 to 2002, 213 cases of dogs showing symptoms of acute cannabis intoxication were recorded. A full 99% of the animals here experienced neurological symptoms of cannabis intoxication and 30% also negative gastrointestinal symptoms.
The study further describes how these symptoms affect the physical and mental state of the animals. The scientists state: “The primary physical symptom of cannabis intoxication in the observed animals was vomiting, depression, tremor, disorientation, hyperactivity or stupor.” Before these recent findings came to light, researchers could only look at earlier records of just a few cases in which teenagers deliberately blew cannabis smoke into the faces of their animals.
Most research to date focused on damage and harm caused by cannabis
Since 2000, only a handful of surveys dealing with this phenomenon have been conducted. Most of them confirmed only one thing, namely that medical cannabis is toxic for dogs. The authors of a veterinary study based in Denver, Colorado concluded that “Even though medical cannabis and substances derived from it are generally considered safe, we recorded a few cases of death following the ingestion of products made from butter with a very high concentration of THC.”
The previous findings, however, in no way prevented scientists from continuing their research. Focusing specifically on the effects of CBD for dogs with arthritis also shed light on its potential functions in the bodies of human subjects, especially as regards dosing and absorption. Further follow-up studies are currently under way. ElleVet Sciences and Dr Wakshlag, as well as other scientists from Colorado State University, are already preparing for the next step in the overall research.
CBD (Cannabidiol) acts differently on dogs than on humans
Even before ElleVet Science started looking into the use of CBD for dogs, a study was carried out in 1988 focusing on the absorption of CBD in dogs, to which it was given in pill form on an empty stomach. The result here, however, was that CBD is poorly absorbed in the dog's stomach and therefore does not offer sufficiently effective help.
“ElleVet came to us with a request to provide several experienced researchers who would look for them at the absorption of cannabinoid-rich medicine, especially CBD. At the same time, they wanted to compare the results with a clinical study,” explains Dr Wakshlag at the university. “Right from the start, we were considerably surprised - CBD was absorbed fairly effectively in the dogs' bodies. So the result ran contrary to the old study we were talking about a moment ago.”
Wakshlad further explains that the resulting absorption of CBD was also influenced by the form of the pills. While in the old study the CBD in the pills was in powder form, the scientists have now started administering it in gelatine capsules, in which the CBD is bound to an oil base.
What is the right dose of CBD for pets?
Another challenge for researchers and owners here is, understandably, finding an effective and at the same time safe dose of CBD suitable for administering to individual animals. If you start blindly giving your pet one of the currently available CBD products, it is not entirely certain whether the given dose will be enough or whether the chosen type of “carrier” (e.g. oil) can be absorbed by dogs at all.
Dr Wakshlag focused primarily on research into the correct dosing of CBD. Another problem here is the minimally regulated and unmapped market for CBD products, whose manufacturers often claim that they are able to help your pets even though sufficient study data are not yet available on how much CBD is actually needed and how best to administer it.
“The dosing we chose for our study of CBD for dogs is essentially based on the effective amount of CBD observed so far, which was applied in those few research studies conducted on human subjects. With regard to body weight, it is therefore assumed here that roughly the same dose of CBD should have a medicinal effect on dogs as on humans. More precisely, it is roughly 1-5mg per kilo of body weight,” Wakshlag goes on to explain the tangled situation. “We decided to start lower from the outset, at two milligrams. We chose 2mg mainly because we want to see whether a lower dosage range also has a therapeutic effect, and also because treatment would be more affordable for more owners this way.”
THC for dogs and cats is trickier - is there a danger?
As we already mentioned in the previous article “THC or CBD for dogs and cats?”, most vets today and most information sources to date will tell you that you had better avoid giving THC to dogs or cats. While Dr Wakshlag's team succeeded in finding the right dose of CBD, adding THC to the mix complicates the whole thing considerably.
“THC can be toxic for dogs and cats. For that reason, we never add this substance to our products,” explains Amanda Howland, one of the owners of companies supplying veterinary food supplements.
Nevertheless, the question of THC toxicity when given to cats or dogs has not yet been answered one hundred per cent. For example, another vet from Oakland, Gary Richter, firmly believes that THC has something to offer to our four-legged friends too. Gary decided to go his own way and began to study the effects of THC (very carefully) on his own dog Leo. For administration he chose carefully measured doses of hashish or extract. Richter subsequently shares his findings with other vets and owners through online seminars and lessons.
“Research so far is very clear - THC provides certain medical benefits, at least as far as its effect on humans is concerned,” explains Richter. “Even though THC toxicity has been observed in poisoned dogs and cats, the danger is caused mainly by an excessively high dose. Our bodies and their weight are, of course, completely different from those of dogs, but we have a very similar endocannabinoid system. It therefore does not make sense for THC to be as toxic for dogs as we talk about it today.”
“The main concern on my mind is the fact that there are a great many cats, dogs and pets in general that could gain noticeable health benefits from the correct administration of THC and CBD. There is a huge number of medicines that are toxic and dangerous when dosed incorrectly. That does not mean, however, that they cannot be beneficial to health when, on the contrary, they are administered correctly.”
“Nobody criticises my cabinet full of legal pharmaceuticals. Yet I could harm dogs with most of them if they were administered incorrectly. But nobody talks about that any more...”
Correct cannabis dosing - Cannabinoids for dogs and cats
If, according to Dr Richter, we start to look at the whole problem with an objective, scientific eye, we will naturally start to think about what the minimum dose causing negative effects in animals is. The moment we find the toxic threshold, we can apply carefully measured doses of THC, CBD or both. Of course, it also depends on the particular illness we are trying to cure.
Furthermore, cannabinoids derived from medical cannabis also react in the body together with other substances - terpenoids and flavonoids. It is necessary to know all the reactions between the range of active substances that are ultimately applied. Mapping the interactions of all these chemical processes is, however, understandably very complex, and further thorough research is therefore clearly needed.
“What is the ideal combination of THC and CBD ratios? Which terpenes should be mixed into the whole blend, and which are better left out? Medicinal substances from cannabis offer very promising medical potential. However, there is still a whole range of processes here that we do not understand and that must be properly investigated before we can administer such substances to our pets with certainty.”
The first cases of successful treatment of dogs with cannabis
With caution and safety as the factors that come first, Dr Richter embarked on his own experiments. And lo and behold - it seems that medical cannabis has tremendous potential in the treatment of cats and dogs too.
As we already mentioned above, CBD on its own has a very high success rate in the treatment of arthritis in dogs. All 16 dogs that were exposed to CBD during the ElleVet research showed positive results and an improvement in condition. “We even had one little dog here that we were prepared to put to sleep. His arthritis symptoms were really nasty and without proper treatment there would have been no point in letting him suffer any longer. But two years have passed since the study and guess what – that same dog is now happily running around the garden and his arthritis symptoms have been reduced to a minimum.”
“If the moment ever comes when my own dog starts showing symptoms of chronic arthritis, I will reach for CBD as the first aid,” says Dr Wakshlag confidently.
But let us return to Dr Richter, who began treating his little dog Leo in his own way. Leo suffered a brain injury during a conflict with another dog. Subsequently, Leo developed after-effects such as tremors and general seizures. After testing a vast number of pharmaceuticals, the doctor turned to cannabidiol. “I could not believe it. His tremors and seizures went away almost immediately.,” writes Richter on his blog. “Leo was experiencing tremor seizures more than several times a week. Now, with regular administration of CBD oil, he has seizures at most twice a month.”
What about cats and cannabis treatment?
As we can all see, in the case of dogs, substances from cannabis show a certain medicinal promise that is hardly disputable at this point. However, as far as the treatment of cats is concerned, there is still an acute lack of quality data.
One of the few studies of the effects of cannabinoids on cats is again a study by ElleVet, which is still trying to find the right cannabinoid blend that could benefit our little felines. Head of research Howland, however, warns: “Cats are definitely something completely different from a small dog. Their little bodies react to the influence of cannabis substances in a fundamentally different way. The metabolic process here simply works differently. Caution is called for. If the wrong dose is given, THC and CBD can be highly toxic for cats.”
Nevertheless, it has already been observed that, when the correct dose is given, cannabinoids can, for example, better calm visible anxiety in cats. Owners are, of course, not recommended to give their own cannabis preparations to cats. The best option here is to wait for the results of the research currently being carried out by ElleVet, which has eagerly taken on the task.
Sources: frontiersin.org ncbi.nlm.nih.gov