We love our cats, even when they’re zooming around the house at three in the morning. And we want to give our feline friends the best lives we can. With CBD being such a popular wellness product for humans, these days, it’s only natural that cat owners would ask, “Can I give CBD to my cat?” And if so, “What’s the best CBD oil for cats?”
The answer to the first question — is CBD safe for cats — is a resounding “yes,” for reasons we’ll explain in this article. But even so, it’s important to know what to look for when you’re shopping for CBD for your cat. Just because a product has CBD in it, it doesn’t mean that product is good for your cat. You need to be able to spot a good CBD oil that can give your cat all the wellness benefits you’re looking for.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how CBD works, how it interacts with your cat’s body, and how to choose the best CBD oil for your cat. Join us for this guide to CBD for cats.
CBD Oil for Cats: What Is CBD?
CBD is an abbreviation for cannabidiol, one of a group of chemical compounds produced by the cannabis plant, called cannabinoids. The cannabis plant produces cannabinoids, like CBD, to protect the plant’s surface from hazardous weather and insect pests, as well as to attract pollinators.
All vertebrate animals, including humans, dogs and cats, produce their own cannabinoids as a part of a bodily system, known as the endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system is a cell-signaling system that communicates with other systems and organs in the body, in order to help them to maintain homeostasis, or balance. Your cat’s body produces neurotransmitters, called endocannabinoids, which attach to the body’s CB1 and CB2 receptors, and induce them to send out signals, which in turn gives the body balance in such crucial functions as sleep, mood, memory, stress, pain, motor control, appetite, and many other vital areas. Your cat’s health depends on this balance, but the endocannabinoids in some cats — just like some humans — fall short of the mark, and can benefit from additional cannabinoid support.
This is where plant-based cannabinoids, or phytocannabinoids, come in. Cannabinoids, like CBD, interact with your cat’s endocannabinoid system in much the same way as your cat’s own endocannabinoids. They interact with the same receptors, which in turn send out signals throughout the body to help all of these vital systems maintain homeostasis. This is why CBD has become such a popular wellness product for humans, and why CBD has such great wellness potential for pets, including your cat!
CBD Oil for Cats: Is CBD Safe for Cats?
As a cat owner, your mind probably threw up a red flag at the word “cannabis,” a few moments ago. And for good reason: marijuana can be lethal for cats and dogs. This is because marijuana is rich in THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, which is a cannabinoid (like CBD). THC is the cannabinoid that gets marijuana users “high.” CBD, on the other hand, is non-intoxicating and is completely safe for pets.
But it’s all cannabis, right? Wrong. There are two types of cannabis, at least in the eyes of the law. High-THC cannabis is commonly called marijuana. Cannabis with very low THC count (less than 0.3%, to be exact) is called hemp. Hemp has so little THC in it that it is non-intoxicating. And it is hemp that we use to make CBD products, including CBD oil tinctures.
CBD Oil for Cats: What Is CBD Oil?
CBD oil is the oil derived from the buds, leaves and stalks of the hemp plant. While you may see it referred to as hemp oil, this can cause confusion, because a manufacturer may be referring to hemp seed oil, which is not the same thing as CBD oil. We’ll talk about how to make sure you’re getting CBD oil in a second. But first, let’s talk about where the CBD oil comes from that’s in your CBD oil product for cats.
When the oil is removed from the hemp plant, it contains all of the cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and healthy fatty oils of the hemp plant. This first-pass oil is called full spectrum CBD oil. While this is the type of CBD oil that is the richest in cannabinoids and hemp’s other compounds, it does contain those non-intoxicating, trace amounts of THC. And so, for some CBD products, including CBD oil for cats, the CBD oil undergoes an additional filtering process to remove all detectable traces of THC. The resulting CBD oil is called broad spectrum CBD oil. This CBD oil still retains a good amount of the wellness-boosting cannabinoids, terpenes, and so forth, and makes a great CBD oil choice for your CBD cat products.
There is a third kind of CBD oil, called CBD isolate. With this CBD oil, all of the remaining cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids — everything except the CBD — have been removed, leaving only 99% pure CBD. While CBD isolate is good for products like CBD Bath Bombs, it’s not the best CBD oil for your cat products. There are many health benefits to the other cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids — so many that it’s worth many more articles to cover it all! So, as we say, broad spectrum CBD oil is the perfect choice for CBD cat products.
CBD Oil for Cats: What Are the Benefits of CBD for Cats?
Let me start with a little disclaimer. While hemp-based CBD is legal to grow, manufacture and sell, medical research is still fairly recent, so the FDA does not at the current time allow us to make any medical recommendations for CBD, including CBD for cats.
With that said, we can tell you why people are using CBD, both for themselves and their pets. We mentioned all the wellness benefits associated with CBD and the endocannabinoid system. So, that alone is plenty of reason to consider CBD for your cat. But beyond that, CBD has a calming effect that many find helps to settle their cat’s nerves, and allows the cat to de-stress. CBD is also used to help with muscle and joint pain, particularly in older pets. So, you can see why CBD has become such a popular product for cats, and other pets.
CBD Oil for Cats: How to Choose the Best CBD Oil for Cats
The hemp plant, from which CBD is derived, is what’s known as a bioaccumulator. This means hemp (and all cannabis) sucks everything from the surrounding soil that it can. This is part of what makes hemp such a hardy plant, because it can pull in a ton of nutrients from the soil. But it can also suck up pesticides, heavy metals, and other harmful chemicals from the soil. So, getting pure, organic CBD is a must, whether that CBD is for you or your pet.
Beyond that, you want to make sure that the CBD was extracted from the hemp plant using clean CO2 extraction, which doesn’t leave behind potentially harmful residues like some solvent extraction methods.
In short, when you buy CBD for you or your cat, you want to have all the good parts of the plant, and none of the harmful chemicals that can work their way into the CBD products of less scrupulous companies.
So, how can you know if your CBD is safe for consumption?
CBD Oil for Cats: The Importance of a Third-Party Lab Report for CBD Oil for Cats
I guess we kinda gave away the answer there, didn’t we? But yes, every reputable CBD brand will provide you with a lab report, produced by an independent, third-party lab. This report will tell you how much CBD is in your product (which allows you to tell whether or not you’re being cheated of the promised strength on the label), how much of the other cannabinoids are present (and in the case of THC, assurance that it is not present), and if there are any harmful chemicals in your product.
If your CBD cat product does not come with an easily viewable third-party lab report, you should get rid of that product immediately. There are countless shoddy CBD brands on the market, selling bad CBD products. You don’t want your cat to be exposed to any of that!
CBD Oil for Cats: CBDfx CBD Oil for Cats
CBD Oil for Cats from CBDfx offers your feline natural, human-grade ingredients, including the very same organic, broad spectrum CBD oil we use in our CBD products for people. The rest of the ingredient profile is incredibly clean, as well: coconut-derived MCT oil for quicker absorption and natural flavors. That’s it! The only difference is that the strength of our CBD Oil for Cats has been dialed back to accommodate for the size of your feline: 250mg per bottle.
And with a third-party lab report always available, you can shop with confidence that your cat is only getting the finest ingredients, with no harmful chemicals or fillers. It really is the best CBD oil for cats.
CBD Oil for Cats: How to Give CBD Oil to Your Cat
You can give your cat CBD oil in one of two ways. As a tincture, you can simply feed them out of the dropper. The flavor is actually very popular among the feline set. Or, if your cat is finicky, you can drop it into their favorite food for consumption.
CBD Oil for Cats: How Quickly Will My Cat Feel the CBD?
Cats have a different metabolism than we do, so they process CBD at a different speed than us. Because your cat is eating the CBD, the CBD has to travel through the digestive tract in order to be absorbed into the bloodstream. This can take 45–90 minutes, depending on the cat. And the effects should last four to six hours. This is assuming your cat has, in fact, swallowed the oil.
If you gave your cat a CBD tincture oil and somehow the cat managed to keep the CBD in its mouth long enough to be absorbed through the capillaries under the tongue, then the effects will be quicker: 15–45 minutes.
CBD Oil for Cats: How Much CBD Oil Should I Give My Cat?
The suggested serving size is a single 1mL dropper of CBD oil. However, every cat is different, given their differing sizes, metabolisms and tolerances, so it’s wise to try to dial in the best CBD dosage for your individual cat. To do this, simply give them half of a normal serving the first time around and see how they handle it. If your cat seems fairly chill, but not stumbling around or upset, you’ve probably found the best serving size for your feline. If you’re not seeing any effects, you can try raising the dose to three-fourths of a dropper when you give CBD to your cat the following day (not the same day!). Work your way up until you find the CBD serving that’s right for your individual cat.
The Final Word on Finding the Best CBD Oil for Your Cat
CBD can be a wonderful, calming wellness supplement for your cat, that can improve their quality of life. We hope that this article has helped you to better understand how CBD interacts with your cat’s body and how to find the best CBD for your cat. Please give your kitty a scritch behind the ears from us!
Ready to try CBD for your cat or dog? Check out our complete line of CBD for Pets!
