If you’ve at all been keeping up with the ever-expanding world of weed, you know there are strains of marijuana out there that are great for treating anxiety. But did you know that cannabis-based products could also help your pets?
If you’re a proud dog mom or dad, you want to give you fur babies the very best life possible. If they suffer from anxiety, it can be hard to know what to do. Luckily, the miracle of modern science might have an answer in dog edibles.
You heard right. Giving your pets edibles for anxiety is an option you might want to explore. Let’s take a look at the world of edibles for animals.
What Exactly are Dog Edibles?
The first thing to address is what dog edibles are and how they differ from human edibles. It’s important to stress that animal edibles are not intended to get your pets high. In fact, most contain very little to no THC.
Pet edibles come in many forms. From tinctures and treats to CBD dog biscuits, there are various snacks designed for your pup.
So, if THC isn’t the factor, what is? The answer to that is CBD. If you’re unfamiliar, CBD is a non-psychoactive chemical compound found in cannabis.
While CBD won’t get you high, it interacts with the receptors in your brain that THC does. Instead, it treats conditions like chronic pain, stress, and anxiety without impairing any of your other faculties.
Your dog has what is called an endocannabinoid system. You have one too. ECS for short, this system is specially designed to receive and process the chemicals contained in CBD.
Though some pet edibles and tinctures have very small amounts of THC in them, it’s negligible enough to not be a concern. After all, concentrated quantities of THC can be toxic to pets.
So, in short, dog edibles are non-psychoactive, CBD infused treats that can help your dog in various ways. Let’s take a look at exactly how they can help your dog.
What CBD is and How it Can Help
We already looked at the basics of CBD, but let’s get a little more in depth. CBD contains what are called CB2 cells. These cells have receptors all over your body.
To be exact, there are CB2 receptors in the nervous system, the digestive system, the brain, the immune system, and in the cardiovascular system. The same goes for your dog. Basically, your dog’s body is specially designed for CBD.
Now that you have a loose idea of how and why CBD works, here are a few of the things it can help with.
Anxiety
If you’re reading this article, your main concern is your pet’s anxiety. Luckily, one of CBD’s main uses is as an anti-anxiety measure.
How does it do this? Well, remember that ECS you read about earlier? One of its primary purposes is stress recuperation.
CBD interacts with a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric corrosive, or GABA for short. It’s GABA’s job to transfer messages from one neuron to the next. One of those messages is “chill the heck out.”
When CBD interacts with GABA, those “chill out” messages are spread quickly throughout your brain. By going directly to the source, CBD quite literally causes a chain reaction of stress reduction.
This works in pets just like it does in humans. CBD can reduce stress and anxiety caused by all sorts of factors.
Anxiety in animals can have various causes. For one thing, separation anxiety is a big deal. Animals don’t have the same sense of object permanence that humans do, so when you leave even for a short period of time, it can cause your dog a ton of worry.
Anxiety can also come from sources we wouldn’t imagine, like fireworks or other loud noises. What’s normal to us can be extremely jarring to a dog.
Furthermore, what if you want to take your dog to group functions but they get too stressed to manage it? CBD infused edibles can be an incredibly effective way of combatting that.
For as much as we understand about our pets, there will always be parts of their inner workings that are mysteries to us. Because of that, it’s impossible to always pinpoint the source of their anxiety. But no matter what its cause, CBD can go a long way to getting them back into tip-top mental health.
Pain and Other Physical Ailments
A sad part of watching your pet get older is watching them deal with chronic pain. For many aging dogs, this becomes a regrettable and depressing part of life, but it doesn’t have to be debilitating.
CBD has been shown to work wonders for chronic pain in humans and dogs alike. But how does it manage that?
Similarly to how it manages stress, CBD attaches directly to receptors in your body that send pain inhibiting messages. This doesn’t just work from chronic pain, but for arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.
Beyond its pain treating capabilities, it can reduce physical discomfort caused by cancer and other diseases. In general, it can make your pet’s life much easier no matter what is ailing them physically.
Edibles For Anxiety Can Work Wonders
If you’re concerned your dog’s quality of life isn’t what it could be, trying edibles for anxiety and other issues might be worth giving a shot. You might be surprised at how effective they can be.
But as much as you can positively impact your pet’s life, they can impact yours just as much. Read on to find out how having a pet can benefit your family.