Could CBD—a therapeutic, nonpsychoactive component of hemp—help your cat? Increasingly, a whole host of cat lovers are singing the praises of CBD and its remarkable efficacy in treating everything from pain to anxiety. By Tracey Tong Alicia O’Toole & her cat Admiral
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alico Callie had a rough start to life. me get off all kinds of ibuprofen for pain and it helps with The Calico cat was living under a porch with her anxiety.” CBD, or cannabidiol, is a cannabis compound babies when Dawn Lamsa, who had been doing derived from hemp. Unlike THC, it’s non-psychoactive, volunteer work to help chained dogs, got a call: Would she meaning it won’t get you or your cat high. What it does do be able to help the cat and her kittens? is help with all manner of ailments, from pain to anxiety to Dawn, an animal lover, immediately agreed. She found seizures. Within a week, Callie started coming out of hiding a rescue to take the kittens and adopted Calico Callie herself. and letting Dawn approach her. But despite Dawn’s best efforts to make Callie feel at Dawn is just one of the many pet owners out there home, the rescued cat suffered from high anxiety. “She was turning to CBD to treat their cats’ ailments, despite the super scared,” says Dawn, who lives in Leonard, Michigan, confusion and misinformation surrounding the compound. surmising Callie was once a pet who had been dumped. The acronym is getting more recognizable, but On top of anxiety and fear issues, Calico Callie also had a misinformation is still out there. “Sure, it’s controversial, multitude of physical ailments. She suffers from stomatitis, a but unfairly so,” says Dr. Patty Khuly, a companion animal debilitating oral condition that causes veterinarian at the Sunset Animal severe inflammation of the gums and Clinic in Miami, Florida and a pet painful lesions in the mouth. Some of health writer. “It’s only because of her teeth were infected and had to be marijuana’s reputation as an illicit With the CBD oil, you pulled. She also had ringworm, which and the fact that this product get all of your cat back. You drug necessitated a bath every other day for happens to be derivable from the don’t just treat a piece of the marijuana family of plants. The reality a couple of weeks. “Of course, she really started to not is that if this product came from any disease, it really is like an trust me,” says Dawn. “After working other plant family, it wouldn’t be entire body overhaul. with her, she would allow me to pet controversial at all.” her sometimes. But (if there was) any Calico Callie has become a different change in the home, or if I tried to clip cat since starting her CBD treatment her nails or put flea meds on her, it would take her weeks to four months ago. “I can clip her nails and put flea meds on let me pet her again. Then I went through a divorce and we her, and shortly after, she will allow me to pet her,” Dawn moved. She was really scared then. says. Sometimes, she will even emerge from hiding and play “It made me feel really sad for her. I tried everything,” with the other cats. “Although it is a slow process, I know Dawn says. “I want her to be comfortable in my home.” To with continued CBD use, she will open up more and more.” make matters worse, Dawn’s other rescues began to pick on Cats and dogs are highly sensitive to THC, or Calico Callie, and she started having accidents and hiding, tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the principal psychoactive emerging only to eat. component of marijuana, but as mentioned CBD is derived “I was at my wit’s end,” remembers Dawn. Determined from hemp and is non-psychoactive, so your pet won't get to find a solution, she decided to try CBD oil at the start of high. It’s a natural product, says Dr. Khuly—its value is in November 2018. “I take CBD oil myself daily… it has helped its ability to offer relief from anxiety for patients like
50 moderncat
SPRING · S UMMER 2019
PHOTO CREDIT: ALICIA O’TOOLE
CBD + your cat
