CBD Oil For Cats: What You Need to Know

As a pet owner, you want to do whatever possible to keep your cat feeling their best. That’s why when you see your cat’s overall mobility declining or notice that they are struggling to relax regularly, it can be seriously distressing. We know that your first priority is always to look for ways to alleviate their discomfort. 

As it turns out, CBD oil is not just beneficial and soothing for humans — pets can truly benefit from CBD oil too! Many brands, including ourselves here at Leafwell Botanicals, offer  CBD products specifically designed for pets. This means your beloved cat can safely reap all of the amazing benefits of CBD oil!

This article will go over everything you need to know about CBD oil for cats, from what CBD oil even is to how it may be beneficial for your cat. Finally, we will explain some of the potential side effects of CBD oil that you will undoubtedly be interested in knowing and show you how to find the best CBD oil products for your cat. Without further ado, let’s get learning!

What is CBD Oil? 

CBD oil is an extract that contains CBD (cannabidiol), along with many other beneficial plant parts, such as terpenes, antioxidants, fatty acids, additional cannabinoids, and various phytonutrients. This extraction typically comes from hemp plants for reasons that we will soon explain.

Firstly, CBD is a type of cannabinoid that is naturally found in cannabis plants, of which it is usually derived from hemp (legally defined as cannabis plants with <0.30% THC). Once extracted from these plants, CBD is valuable because it can promote holistic health, relax your body and mind, and support more restful sleep. 

However, CBD is only one of the many components naturally found in CBD oil, and this works to CBD’s advantage. See, the other plant compounds found in CBD oil are great all on their own but also work as a team to maximize the benefits of CBD Oil. This process is called the entourage effect. 

In addition to CBD, other cannabinoids (not fully inclusive) such as CBN, CBG, CBC, THCV, THC, and CBDA can be found in CBD oil. Depending on the type of CBD oil that you use (i.e., full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, etc.), there may even be low amounts (<0.30%) of the cannabinoid THC. 

Along with CBD, THC is one of the two most well-known cannabinoids. It is typically associated with marijuana, and the “high” people experience when consuming marijuana. Unlike THC, CBD has no intoxicating effect on the body (people or pets!) and actually has a countering effect to THC intoxication. 

By legal requirement, any cannabinoid that is to be used commercially outside of the marijuana market must be derived from hemp, which cannot contain more than 0.30% THC. The lower level of THC in hemp, in addition to the extraction method and overall processing, ensures that manufacturers can keep the amount of THC in finished CBD oil products at its approved level, meaning less than 0.3% THC.

CBD oil is safe and causes very few side effects for both humans and pets. If you or your pet experience side effects, they are likely to be mild and usually associated with the accompanying ingredients rather than the CBD itself.  For example, if you give your cat a tincture and you give them multiple servings without any food in its stomach, they may potentially get an upset stomach.

You and your pets can consume CBD oil in a variety of ways, including tinctures and CBD-infused food products and topically as well. We will give some helpful tips on the best way to give CBD oil to your cat below! 

CBD Benefits For Cats 

Just like humans, cats can benefit greatly from consuming CBD oil. This is because CBD supports their overall health and allows them to live a more relaxed & mobile life.

For one, whether your cat is a house cat or an outdoor cat, or something in between, their overall mobility is central to their existence. After all, what would your house cat be if they could not jump from one precarious surface to another, and how would your outdoor cat react if they were no longer able to keep up with the other animals outside? 

By using CBD oil, cats can support their overall mobility and be their full selves moving around methodically as they love to do. Cats’ mobility naturally declines as they age, so this may be a particularly beneficial point for older cats. 

CBD oil can also help soothe and calm your cat. One of the most painful things as a pet owner is knowing that your cat struggles to relax, but you still feel as though there is nothing you can do to help them. Luckily, CBD oil supports relaxation and promotes balanced health, so you can sleep better knowing they are at ease. 

Lastly, CBD oil promotes overall health for two reasons. Firstly, CBD oil contains a blend of multiple phytocompounds, including other cannabinoids, potentially other supplements, and the carrier oil, which in itself can deliver great benefits, all of which work synergistically to deliver. 

The second reason is that CBD oil is a holistic wellness method, meaning it targets “whole” health as opposed to just focusing on one specific area. When your cat is relaxed, they will feel better in all aspects of their life (maybe even be a little less mischievous!). Similarly, when your cat is doing better mobility-wise, other aspects of its health (i.e., its overall mental health) will feel stronger as well because as we all know, the mind, body, spirit connection is very real When you’re feeling better physically, you’ll feel better mentally and vice versa. 

How To Best Give Your Cat CBD Oil 

While there are many methods humans can use to consume CBD oil, cats are typically best served when given tinctures, whether directly or added to their food/water. If you are not familiar with tinctures, these are liquid droppers containing hemp extract that are quick and simple to use. Small snacks and tablets are also an option, though not as versatile as CBD tinctures.

We recommend first trying to squirt the CBD oil droplets directly into your cat’s mouth, which is the most direct way of giving them CBD oil. However, we understand that certain cats are not exactly thrilled when you pull open their mouth and might not cooperate well with this method of doing things.

If that is the case for your cat, you can simply add the necessary amount of CBD oil to the rest of your cat’s food or water during mealtime. They likely will not even notice the addition (for example, our hemp extract droppers have no flavor added) and will consume it as happily as they do the rest of their food. 

When it comes to the dose your cat should use, if you’re lucky, you may have a veterinarian willing to give you advice, but if not, just start low and work their serving size up. We’ve seen most cat owners find success at 3-5mg per 10lbs though you can definitely go higher if you found the CBD oil was helping in higher amounts. At Leafwell Botanicals, we offer different potencies of CBD per milliliter of hemp extract, depending on your pet’s size, meaning Small, Medium, and Large. That being said, we recommend choosing a higher potency of CBD to minimize the number of drops you have to give your cat. Our droppers are also graduated which allow you to effectively measure every 0.25mL and each bottle contains approximately 600 drops so you can divide the CBD potency by 600 to get the amount of mg per drop as well.

The reason we say this is because CBD oil needs the help of a carrier oil (we use organic MCT oil) to promote optimal absorption, and too much of this fat might irritate your cat’s stomach. CBD oil itself is safe and causes few side effects, so if your cat were to experience mild side effects with an upset stomach, they would most likely be from the carrier oil or other accompanying components as opposed to the CBD oil (though it could potentially be the CBD oil). 

Given this, you should also give your cat time to adjust to the CBD oil by introducing it gradually to their diet and then working your way up to the ideal dose. This will help minimize the risk of unwanted side effects (most commonly an upset stomach)  and allow your pet to become accustomed to the benefits of CBD oil. 

Where To Find Pet-Friendly CBD Oil

There are a few questions you should ask of any CBD product you give to your cat:

1. Is it specifically made for pets? This may sound like an obvious one, but CBD products designed for pets will be the safest and most effective for your beloved pet. The biggest reason for this is not that it needs to be designed for pets specifically but more so that there aren’t flavors in a tincture designed for people that could potentially harm your pets.
   
   
2. Piggybacking on the prior bullet, does it contain any other added ingredients? Any ingredients beyond the necessary ones (namely, the CBD oil itself and the carrier oil for absorption) could be potentially harmful to your cat and offer little nutrition-wise. That said, there can be valuable additions such as fish / krill oils, turmeric, and others which would be value additive as opposed to negative.
   
   
3. Does the brand have third-party lab results readily available? Third-party testing ensures that a product is safe to use and that it contains at least what the label promises. Companies that are not transparent with this information are, in many cases, not to be trusted. 

Here at Leafwell Botanicals, we take these points seriously. That is why we have pet-friendly tinctures in three different potencies, each containing full-spectrum hemp extract, organic MCT oil, and nothing else. Though we are working on some other formulas that contain some of the value-added ingredients we mentioned above for those looking for a supplement with multiple benefits in one. For full transparency, we have our third-party test results available right on our website. In fact, you can read all about our products right here. If you need any help reading the testing results, just let us know, and we’re here to help!

We know how important your cat is to you, which is why we offer only the highest-quality CBD products. With our CBD oil tinctures, your pet can feel its very best, most playful self! 

Summary 

Full and Broad Spectrum CBD oil are extracts that contain cannabidiol (CBD), other cannabinoids, terpenes, and beneficial plant material. Full-spectrum CBD Oil contains some THC, but less than 0.30%, and Broad Spectrum CBD Oil contains non-detectable levels of THC (typically defined as less than 0.005% by many). These components all work together to optimize each of their benefits and support overall wellness in the most effective way possible. 

Many humans use CBD oil to promote homeostasis, support a good night’s sleep, and to allow for better overall mental health. CBD oil can be similarly beneficial for cats, especially when it comes to supporting their overall health, mobility, and relaxation. CBD oil is safe to use with few reported side effects, most of which have to do with the accompanying components (such as the carrier oil) and are typically just an upset stomach. 

If you decide to give your cat CBD oil, if you’re fortunate to have a veterinarian willing to discuss CBD, you should talk with them to make sure you are fully informed on how to best do so. It is also important to buy only the highest-quality CBD oil made for pets (though if it’s not for pets but doesn’t contain any ingredients potentially toxic to pets, such as flavors, it’s okay). Look for brands that are transparent about their third-party test results (preferably by making them easily accessible on their website) and look for full-spectrum CBD oil products so your cat can experience the benefits of the entourage effect. Broad Spectrum CBD oil is also good!

You can find pet-friendly, full-spectrum hemp extract droppers here. 

Sources:

CBD Oil for Cats: What You Need to Know | PetMD

The Best CBD Oil for Cats — Buyers Guide (Updated 2020) | Discover Magazine

Can Cats Eat Peanut Butter? | Cat Care Advice | The Rescue Vets