CBD or Cannabidiol is a naturally occurring molecule in the Cannabis Sativa plant. CBD is one of many compounds found in cannabis that belong to a class of molecules called cannabinoids; of the 100+ cannabinoids found in cannabis, CBD and THC are usually present in the highest concentrations and are therefore the most recognized and studied.
There has been a lot of talk about how good CBD oil for dogs is and how it cures everything from anxiety to skin disease, but still, we hear reports saying it’s wrong for your pet… So who do we trust?
The simple answer: if you feel comfortable buying and using marijuana products, you should also feel comfortable giving your dog CBD since it’s a version minus all those scary chemicals, and it’s more pure and organic.
CBD has very low toxicity, and the change of overdosing your dog on CBD is almost impossible. To give you an idea, here are some numbers:
LD50 in rats (oral ingestion): 4628 mg/kg – that means that about 1 kilogram of CBD per kilogram of body weight would have to be eaten for it to be lethal, so 11000mg of CBD for a 10-pound dog which is roughly 5 kilos or about 110 cannabis cigarettes worth of CBD. Suppose we compare that to the fact that even an adult human could overdose by ingesting over 80 pounds or 36 kilos of chocolate containing caffeine! So I hope this puts things in perspective and shows how ridiculous the idea of overdosing your dog on CBD is.
Dogs also have a speedy metabolism, and usually, what you give them will be out of their system in less than 24 hours.
Now that we got that out of the way let’s start talking about how to use CBD oil for dogs: First thing you should know is that CBD dosage varies from dog to dog depending on their weight and state, so you will need a precise scale to measure each dose. If I had to give an average dosage, it would be between 3-5mg per pound every 12 hours or one hour before mealtime. For example: if I wanted to give my 13lb poodle 1mg of Cbd, I would add 0,025ml (basically a 1/4 of a teaspoon) to her food once in the morning and at night. If you give it to your dog for an injury or pain, I recommend doing it three times a day since Cbd is also suitable for relieving swelling and inflammation. You can give your dog the best cbd oil for dogs orally with drops under the tongue on top of their food, or you can use coconut oil, making it easier for dogs to intake since they love the taste!
I hope this article helped shed some light on how good CBD is for dogs and why it is safe enough to be given daily even though it is derived from marijuana.