Cats and CBD: Benefits for Health

Surely, you’ve heard about CBD for dogs, but have you heard that it can also be used for cats? Your furry little friend can also benefit from CBD’s healing properties just as well as a human or a dog.

What Is It?

CBD is short for cannabidiol, which is one of more than eighty cannabinoids found in cannabis. After THC, it’s the second most well-known one. However, while THC has psychoactive effects, CBD doesn’t, so it won’t get your cat or you high. It comes from the hemp plant instead of the marijuana plant and is legal in all 50 states.

CBD and Cats

Just like us, cats are equipped with ECS (endocannabinoid systems) that are responsible for regulating things like immunity, appetite, pain, mood, and sleep. 

There are cannabis receptors in both our brains and cat’s brains, nerves, and spinal cords, and we actually produce natural cannabinoids, called endocannabinoids, and these bind to these receptors. Because of this, when Boots the cat or you ingest CBD, it basically supplements the endocannabinoid system, just as taking Vitamin C is a supplement for your immune system.

What Does It Help?

There are innumerable stories of how owners gave their cats CBD and saw drastic improvements in the lives of them and even saved the owner money for vet bills. To begin with, CBD for cats has been able to make felines a bit more comfortable as they approached the end of their lives. Those suffering from cancer or various other terminal illnesses have lived longer than they were expected to and in less discomfort and pain. It also can help cats that suffer from things like a lack of energy, constant fear and hiding from strangers, lightning, and fireworks, a loss of appetite, and anxiety.

Serious Conditions It Can Help

One of the serious conditions that CBD can help cats with is arthritis. Because of the anti-inflammatory effects, many pet owners get CBD treats for dogs to manage the animal’s arthritis, and cat owners can use CBD for their pets too. 

Another couple of conditions CBD can help cats with are IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) and pancreatitis. Both are caused by inflammation. With IBD, CBD has in some instances helped to improve symptoms like weight loss, diarrhea, and vomiting. With pancreatitis, when CBD is combined with a diet low in fats, it can greatly improve the animal’s quality of life. 

Asthma is yet another inflammatory disease that CBD can assist with. When cats with asthma take CBD, it may decrease the inflammation, which results in fewer asthma attacks.

Side Effects?

When cats take CBD, the main side effect you can expect to see is it can make them a little bit sedated. When you notice this, the best thing to do is to lower the dosage a bit. Just like with humans, each cat will react a tad differently. However, there are better side effects, too. For example, if you give your cat CBD for one condition, such as arthritis, it may also help with other issues.

One critical thing to mention is that there is never a need for you to feed weed to your cat, give them products that are high in THC, or even to blow marijuana smoke right in their cute little face. THC has a different effect on humans than it does on cats because of the fact that they have more of the CB-1 receptors in their brains than we do, and the THC can make them more uncomfortable and paranoid. 

However, CBD has shown to be harmless and effective, so it’s worth trying if your feline suffers from one of the conditions mentioned above.