Does The CBD I Buy For My Pet Matter?

By Cara Oorbeck

Green Wellness Staff

You might already know that the type of CBD you take matters, but did you know it also matters to your pet?  That is right, giving your pet an isolate can affect your fur baby differently than giving your fur baby a full spectrum product.  Mind blown, right? With that being said, let me help you unpack the differences a bit.

If you know me at all, you know that I love pets!   My husband Mike and I have always had pets in our house.  Currently we have 7 of them.  Seven, you say!?! You can imagine that with 7 animals in our house it can feel a lot like a zoo.  We actually call it “our zoo”, and like a real zoo, each of our animals has different needs.  Most of our fur babies were rescued, which can come with its own set of issues.  Some of these include anxiety, allergies and joint pain.  These different concerns lead to the use of different products.  Before we get started, it is important to note that I am not a veterinarian.  I do absolutely include my vet (she’s fantastic!) in our care plan for each of our fur kids.  This is what I have found to work with my pets.  Keep in mind that each animal is different and can respond differently so starting small daily and increasing is key!

Full Spectrum CBD & Lucy

You’ve likely heard us talk about this quite alot, but a recap is always helpful.  A full spectrum product means that manufacturers use the whole plant and all the compounds found in the plant(over 100 compounds called cannabinoids). These cannabinoids can include CBD, CBG, CBN and even trace amounts of THC .3%.  At GWL we are whole plant advocates, which means we tend to recommend full spectrum products to assist with pain, inflammation, seizures,  and a myriad of other different issues. Full spectrum is unique in that the compounds in the plant work synergisticly with one another. Often you do not need as many milligrams of a full spectrum product and you can still see the same benefits as if you were taking higher milligrams of the isolate or broad spectrum. As a rule of thumb we usually recommend starting with 1 mg per every 10 pounds per animal.

I know you are wondering who this adorable little grey dog is? Well this is my little buddy Lucy, age 13.  She utilizes full spectrum CBD for aging, joint pain, inflammation and allergies. She is spry as can be and has no issues jumping on the bed, couch, my lap or running after critters in my yard. She takes around 2 to 3 mg of Full Spectrum CBD everyday. I usually use either the Bluebird tincture or the Charlotte’s Web Tincture. For a treat I also love the Treatibles hard chew for Lucy. She is a meat eater and she loves the turkey treats.

Isolate CBD & Rizzo

This is my Pitbull / Basset Hound who we rescued two years ago, Rizzo, age 4. He is hilarious and we love him. He is also incredibly nervous! We are pretty sure he was abused and noises, movements, new people or darn near anything out of the ordinary freaks him out. He is the most lovable and goofy pup when he is not afraid!  We have found that with Rizzo his anxiety responds best when we use an isolate product.  I have had him on full and broad spectrum products and although they help, our best results for his anxiety have been on isolated CBD products.   We sure can tell tell a difference if we miss his CBD for even a day!  Rizzo gets 5 mg daily, with an additional 2 mg when we have company over.

An Isolate is just what it sounds like.  The CBD from the hemp plant is isolated and extracted from rest of the compounds and plant matter.  It is then added to a tincture, capsule, or treat.  With an isolate, you are not getting the benefits of all of the other  cannabinoids, terpenes or plant matter in the plant.  Some might say that the isolate is missing some of the other compounds that make full spectrum oil special. While this is true to an extent, there are plenty of reasons why you may choose an isolate product over a full spectrum product.  One being there is 0 THC in an isolate product, but another reason is you are looking specifically for benefits with mood and anxiety for your pet.

Others reasons to try an isolate may include allergies.  When there are more compounds in the product, there are more moving parts that an animal can be allergic to. In this case, a CBD isolate would be the best choice to make sure he or she only consumes a product that’s pure, with no trace of other compounds or plant matter.  Rizzo loves both the bacon and the peanut butter tincture from Social CBD on his food.   He also devours any chewable treat!

Broad Spectrum

My Great Dane, Molly, takes a broad spectrum product.  She is 6 years old and she has always struggled with stomach issues and allergies.  We have to make her dog food and she gets 15 mg of CBD daily.  Why did we choose a broad spectrum for Molly?  A broad spectrum means that the manufacturer has removed the trace amounts of .03 % THC from the product but it still has some  of the other cannabinoids left in the product from the hemp plant.   This means Molly can still get some of the benefits of a full spectrum product without the THC or plant matter.

Molly does not currently have joint pain and is not showing signs of aging in her hips or joints, but as a big dog she could eventually struggle because of her 135 pound body!  We wanted to take care of her joints early, so we figured the broad spectrum can assist with that as she ages. Molly can also be a Nervous Nelly, so we have found the broad spectrum eases her anxiety a bit along with aiding with some of her stomach issues. I am assuming she has had inflammation in her digestive track and the broad spectrum has helped with keeping her food down and staying down.  We do notice when Molly misses her CBD for a couple of days as her tummy acts up.  Molly is a picky eater, so the KOI soft chews are our go to.  She refuses to take any other products…Well wait, she also loves our Honest Paws peanut butter  but she is too big for this regularly.  She would need 4 to 5 tablespoons daily!!

Can’t Leave Out My Other Fur Babies!

I am sure you can imagine that my house is the perfect place for sampling CBD.  So here are a couple of our other favorite products and the rest of my zoo.  (They would be mad at me if I did not include them!)

Luna,our Great White Pyrenees, was rescued last year.  Luna is probably 3 or 4 and she was a mess when we got her.  Her skin and coat were awful with skin infections and rashes everywhere. We started her on a full spectrum as well.  I use the Bluebird with her because she is a big girl like Molly.  I stay away from treats with her because of her sensitivities.   I also use a topical on her when she gets a sore or a hot spot.  Her tummy always gets red rashes so I apply our Honest Paws coconut oil to her tummy daily and it keeps that ugly red itchiness at bay!

Last, but not least, are my cats!  My  cats (Kitty, Bella & Sophia) are all in all pretty healthy! I do have two young cats and they can be a handful, so CBD has helped with that!  We give them a tincture in their food and it seems to bring a bit of calm to our climbing beasts!  I do need to note that Kitty is a perfect pet.  She’s shown to the far right.  She chose us when she literally showed up on our front porch in a snow storm.  We were not going to keep her, so I told the kids not to name her.  “Kitty” has been at home with us for 5 years now!

Here are the products we use with these three.  I interchange!  (Side note – my smaller dogs also love the cat treats!)

As always, we love to hear from our customers.  Please reach out and let us know what you’re using with your fur family – we can all learn from each other! Be kind and Stay well.  We hope to hear from you soon!