CBD pet products “operate in a gray area,” says Birgit Pushner, Ph.D., DMV. She’s the dean of Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and a specialist in toxicology. Her own research has examined what questions need to be answered before veterinarians can feel confident recommending CBD.
This gray area is in part because of the chemical composition of CBD. While hemp and marijuana both originate from the Cannabis sativa plant, the difference is that “industrial hemp” contains high levels of CBD and less than 0.3 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s principal psychoactive compound.
Meanwhile, CBD is not psychoactive and its toxicology profile is thought to be benign — that’s why CBD pet product manufacturers like Riggle aren’t concerned about putting products into market before rigorous testing.
“I’ve never come across any kind of allergic reaction to cannabinoids, or obviously fatal interactions,” Riggle says. “In my mind, this stuff is about as safe as drugs can get.”
On the other side of the coin, Pushner argues that CBD can’t be claimed to be an at-worst innocuous thing — until scientists get a grasp of its long-term effects. The FDA cautions that, because it hasn’t approved cannabis for any use in animals, “the agency cannot ensure the safety or effectiveness” of CBD. In turn, the FDA cautions pet-owners against CBD use.
Pushner thinks that there could be a place for CBD products in the pet store, but first experts need to answer whether it has side-effects with other drugs, among other questions.
“I think there is this appeal currently for natural alternative therapies and an assumption that natural is safer,” Pushner says. “But natural does not always equate with safe.”
She shares Kogan’s concern about the validity of what companies say they are selling. She cites preliminary studies that have confirmed the presence of other cannabinoids in CBD pet treats, including THC, and these cannabinoids may have pharmacological effects that studies that are using pure CBD are not catching. With CBD, it’s a matter of buyer-beware, say its skeptics.
“It’s kind of a Catch-22,” Pushner says. “The products are out, sales have doubled in the past couple years, and increasing. But the FDA cannot approve them because there is not enough data on safety.”
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