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Ask A Doctor CBD Pets

CBD For Older Pets with Arthritis

Written by Dr. Leah Zachar

Just like humans, when pets age, life becomes a struggle and it can be exhausting just walking up some stairs or eating lunch…

And, as for humans, medicines exist in nature which can help to alleviate the symptoms of ageing for pets too. CBD for pets can help with a variety of issues, like pain, digestion, and arthritis.

Question: Lucky, my 9-year-old beagle has arthritis and gave him pet CBD oil I purchased – from another company. I will withhold the name of the company and you will understand why as you continue reading.

I gave Lucky a tiny dose. A little while after, she began to sway, drool, and looked like she was stoned. I immediately contacted the company, and they assured me that the pet CBD oil had only CBD in it.

I didn’t believe them. My dog was stoned. I decided to try the pet CBD oil myself – because I’ve been stoned, and I know what that feels like. About fifteen minutes after I took the pet CBD oil, I began to feel spacey. There is no question about it.

Lucky was not so lucky. She had pet CBD with THC in it instead of clean CBD. Since recovering from this horrible reaction to the pet “CBD” oil, Lucky refuses to leave the house, and just stays curled up underneath the kitchen table.

I love Lucky. She is there for me during my chemotherapy sessions. I want to be there for her now after this awful ordeal she has been through.
What can I do to help her?

Answer: When Lucky, your dog, was given the pet CBD oil, it apparently had THC in it. She developed a condition known as “static ataxia”, a condition where the animal sways from side to side, drools, and becomes completely disoriented.

Lucky, your dog, now suffers from anxiety, resulting from the contaminated pet CBD tincture, along with her arthritis.

Medical cannabis companies for pets often do not have any quality control. Ethically and morally they should, but they don’t. Perhaps they don’t because it is hard for a pet to verbalize his complaints about a product – in contrast to us humans.

At CBD Testers, the pet CBD we provide is always checked by an independent third party as to the purity, accuracy, and reliability of the CBD in each bottle. The dosage of pet CBD oil I recommend for Lucy is as follows:

  • Low dose: 0.05 mg x weight of your dog in pounds. Administer 2x/day
  • Medium dose: 0.125 mg x weight of your pet in pounds. Administer 2x/day
  • High dose: 0.25 mg x weight of your pet in pounds. Administer 2x/day

Then, every 5-7 days, slowly increase the dose until you’ve achieved the desired effect.

Then, maintain that dose of CBD. Over time, adjustments can be made, up or down when necessary.

If you want to read more from Dr Zachar, check out: ‘Ask A Doctor – CBD For Pets – Q & A’

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About the author

Dr. Leah Zachar

Dr. Leah Zachar, M.D. is a physician who worked for nearly thirty years in Internal Medicine.
She currently is a scientific adviser to CBD Testers. Dr. Zachar believes that there is much that medical cannabis, and cannabidiol in particular can offer to traditional medicine.