1-24-2024 5:53am

Dogs Given Single Dose CBD See Reductions In Stress Per Study

Chris Edwards Editor

Per an ORIGINAL RESEARCH Dogs given a single Dose of CBD are less stressed when traveling.

The new study, published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, shows that a single oral dose (4 mgs per kg of body weight) of THC-free CBD can significantly relieve multiple measures of dogs’ stress caused by car travel or being left alone. This study, along with a recent study supporting the safety of CBD for longer-term use in healthy dogs, adds to a growing body of research focused on the safety and efficacy of CBD in companion animals.

In this randomised, placebo-controlled, blinded study, scientists at Waltham looked at how CBD impacted the experience of 20 dogs in two common activities expected to cause stress - car journeys and being left alone. They collected several physiological (e.g., blood levels of cortisol, ear temperature, heart rate) and behavioural measures (e.g., whining, trembling, panting) at different times during the study. There were significant changes in several stress-related measures, with the car journey eliciting a more pronounced stress response.

Dogs then received either a placebo or CBD capsule (~4mg/kg bodyweight) and, two hours after administration, were exposed to either the separation event or car travel. Researchers found multiple measures of the dogs’ stress improved following administration of CBD. Specifically, dogs treated with CBD were scored as significantly less “sad,” had significantly lower cortisol levels, exhibited less whining, and were in a more relaxed emotional state overall than to dogs that received a placebo.

Forty healthy, adult dogs, twenty-two males and eighteen females of three breeds (17 Labrador Retrievers, 8 Beagles, and 15 Norfolk Terriers), with a mean age of 4.1 years (ranging from 1.2 to 9.4 years) participated in the study. All dogs were housed in pairs within kennels at the Waltham Petcare Science Institute (Leicestershire, UK) with free access to indoor and outdoor environments. Dogs were provided with comprehensive training and socialization programs, adjusted to the needs of the individual dogs as per the Institute's pet keeping requirements. Prior to the study, dogs were habituated to the testing environments and associated equipment and underwent appropriate training to facilitate sample collections (e.g., blood samples). Dogs were weighed to establish an accurate dose of CBD relative to individual bodyweight. The targeted oral dose for each dog was 4 mg/kg bodyweight with an acceptable range of 3.38–4.44 mg/kg bodyweight.

Currently, global regulatory bodies, such as the FDA and EFSA, don’t support the use of CBD-containing products in pets due to lack of robust safety and efficacy data thus the reasoning behind the study.

The full study details can be found at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1112604/full