Dogs Suffering With Pain And Seizures Treated With Cannabis

By Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Feb. 24, 2016

Dogs are now benefiting from cannabidiol, or CBD, to treat everything from pain and hip dysplasia to cancer and epilepsy -- even though the product absurdly remains classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic.

"Most of the pet owners that are using the product are using it for separation anxiety, things like hip dysplasia and arthritis, mobility pain, ageing -- a lot of ageing dogs are using the product -- and then we have some dogs that have epilepsy that use the product with great success, some dogs with cancer ... so it's a pretty wide range of conditions that can be addressed with CBD really successfully," explained Julianna Carella, owner and founder of Treatibles, in an interview with Reason.

Treatibles is one of several companies which produce dog treats containing therapeutic CBD. According to the company's website:

"Treatibles are super food wellness treats infused with a proprietary blend of CBD & other non psychoactive cannabinoids derived from hemp grown for medicinal purposes ... We seek to help strengthen and support animals with our CBD-rich products to provide preventative care throughout their lives and restorative care when they or sick or in pain."

These CBD treats, in other words, aren't going to get your dog high -- but they will help ease pain, anxiety, and can facilitate the healing of a number of conditions. Though primarily marketed as treats for canines, the company emphasizes the treats are "safe for any animal with an endocannabinoid system, which is all animals except for insects" -- the site even has testimonial from a customer whose rabbits benefited from CBD.

"Cannabis is a Schedule 1 narcotic," Carella told Reason, "which means that is how this information has been strategically suppressed, in my opinion. I really feel like the research [into medicinal benefits of CBD] is about 80 years behind where it should be."

Heidi Hill owns Holistic Hound in California, which stocks CBD treats for dogs and cats. She said people who have been medical marijuana and CBD patients notice the treats and, having personal experience, "are already on board" with the potential benefits CBD will give their pets.

As Reason points out, though cannabidiol treats for pets are available worldwide, "federally, CBD is still illegal." This leaves business owners who produce or sell the pet treats in a legal gray area.

"It would be great if they would deschedule cannabis, as opposed to rescheduling. It doesn't belong on the [Controlled Substances Act] list at all, in my opinion," said Crella, "Once that happens then the research -- that was supposed to have been happening all this time [during cannabis prohibition] -- will start to happen here in this country."