A study funded by the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) has found that cannabidiol (CBD) is “safe for long-term use” in dogs.
“The tolerability of different cannabinoids given orally to dogs was evaluated in a randomized, non-blinded, negative controlled, parallel design 90-day repeat dose study with a 14-day recovery period”, states the abstract of the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Veterinary.
For the study healthy beagles (16 males and 16 females) were randomized into four treatment groups and treated with either medium chain triglyceride oil as the control or one of the following: broad spectrum cannabidiol, broad spectrum cannabidiol with cannabigerol, or broad spectrum cannabidiol with cannabidiolic acid at 5 mg total cannabinoids/kg body weight/day.
Animals were observed daily with detailed clinical examinations conducted weekly, and monitored for an additional two weeks after dosing. Body weights, food consumption and clinical pathology evaluations were included in the study.
“Cannabinoids were well tolerated when healthy male and female beagles were dosed for 90 consecutive days”, states the study. “Annual post-market surveillance data for hemp-derived supplement products sold for use in dogs from 2010 to 2023 (partial year) shows that the rate per 1 million administrations sold is 2.10 for adverse events and 0.01 for serious adverse events. Based on the results of this study, other published studies, and data from extensive post-market surveillance, hemp-derived cannabinoids are well tolerated in healthy dogs at a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight/day.”
“These data demonstrate that different cannabidiols are safe for long-term use in healthy dogs when given at the dose studied,” said Bill Bookout, NASC President. “With safety studies, no matter how well controlled or meticulously defined, it is impossible to account for everything that can occur when a product is commercialized. That is why this safety study includes not only data from a well-designed study protocol, but also 10 years of post-market surveillance data from the NASC Adverse Event Reporting Database (NAERS®), which is the most advanced monitoring system in the world for these types of products given to companion animals. No other study that we are aware of is as comprehensive and includes both data sets.”
Bookout continued by saying “There are many people to thank for their support in the completion of this study, however, it is the contributions of the NASC Board of Directors and NASC members, along with retailers and veterinarians who helped propel this landmark study forward.
Special thanks go to study co-authors Margitta Dziwenka, Kaiti Valm, and Jennifer Kovacs-Nolan for their invaluable assistance with what has been a lengthy, but extremely rewarding process. Thanks also to Joseph J. Wakshlag, DVM, PhD, of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine for his support and encouragement along the way as we completed this instrumental study.”
The full study can be found by clicking here.
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