Is CBD effective for pets? Image credit: Wikipedia.
The Case for CBD
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the most focused on cannabinoids today. Cannabinoids are biochemicals specific to cannabis. This non-psychoactive compound is thought to deliver a number of health benefits such as relieving anxiety, reducing inflammation, and aiding sleep. It’s even used to help control rare, intractable epileptic conditions, such as Dravet syndrome.
Receptors in the body interact with CBD. But how and why is still not known. Although it’s in a sort of gray area, legally, CBD is considered harmless. As a result, many across the country, both traditional cannabis users and not, are using it as a natural supplement to help ease what ails them. Now, some owners are giving CBD to their pets, to help with such things as separation anxiety, arthritis, or pain due to ailments, such as cancer.
There are some indications that CBD is helpful, and no detrimental side effects have been reported. Still, the science is still out, mostly due to drug war policies that have made studying cannabis difficult. Even less is known about how CBD affects domesticated animals. And yet, that hasn’t stopped companies from marketing CBD to pet owners.
RESTART and Smart Hemp
RESTART is a brick-and-mortar store in Austin, Texas that sells CBD products for dogs. Sisters Shayda and Sydney Torabi are co-owners. Shayda began using CBD oil herself after a car accident. It helped with her pain. Sydney on the other hand, the younger sister, began taking CBD as a supplement, for general wellness. Soon, Sydney started giving it to the family dog, Scotty, for joint pain.
The family soon noticed not only that the dog could get up faster, but that he was much calmer and in less pain. Next, the sisters began developing their own dog formula. Today, their product is called Restore. The sister’s say it has a smaller dosage of CBD than other items on the market. It also includes helpful herbs such as dandelion root.
Smart Hemp CBD is plying another tactic. Rather than personal testimonials and experimentation, they’ve taken a more traditional route. A veterinarian helped develop their products. Smart Hemp CBD has put out a line of terpene and phytocannabinoid laden extracts for dogs, cats, and horses. The company says their products help reduce anxiety, aggressive behavior, seizures, inflammation, appetite loss, soothe arthritis, and even help relieve allergies. Bill Hansen is the founder of the company. He uses CBD himself to lessen Parkinson’s related symptoms. After a time, he wondered if it could help his old dog with age-related symptoms. The dog’s improvement convinced Hansen to launch the company.
Rowley’s Good Stuff
San Francisco-based Rowley’s Good Stuff is a startup looking to dominate the CBD for dogs market. Christina O’Reilly helped launch the company with her husband Mike. They decided that rather than a mere oil, they’d combine CBD with other products dogs enjoy. One such iteration is CBD infused peanut butter that comes in a tube.
For them, the enterprise began when they gave their dog Rowley CBD to help ease the pain of bone cancer. Not only did it lessened his pain but it helped him sleep. While a handful of veterinarians have witnessed the benefits of CBD firsthand, few feel comfortable recommending it. Not only hasn’t it been proven to work, but CBD is not covered in veterinary school, making veterinarians uncomfortable recommending it.
Ai Vacuum
With the anecdotal evidence of CBD helping both pets and humans piling up, chances are we’ll see more and more such companies entering this segment of the market. Future studies may solidify these observational findings. As such, more CBD will need to be produced. Those extracts will have to go through post-processing, and that’s where Ai Vacuum comes in. This is the industry leader in botanical refinement equipment.
For solvent reclamation, consider one of our rotary evaporators. Our 20-liter SolventVap package comes with a chiller and a pump, everything you need to get started right away. It’s rugged, easy to operate, cost-effective, and churns out reliable results time after time. An easy-to-use vacuum release allows you to continuously feed the system, meaning the action doesn’t have to end until you say it does. The water bath is optimized for the quickest heat up time going, and the PID temperature controller is so precise, it steps up the temperature at 0.1°C increments.
Winterization and Distillation
For winterization or pesticide remediation, consider one of our jacketed glass reactors. Our 20-liter model with filtration system is an excellent choice. The filtration system lessens the chance of material loss during transfer. It also ensures that less contamination occurs during your process. Eventually, all other size reactors will come with such a system. Due to the popularity of this new item, the current lead time is six weeks.
For distillation, consider one of our short path systems. Our 5-liter unit with multiple receiving flasks is very popular. The newly redesigned distillation head with a larger vacuum jacket minimizes heat loss while allowing for greater fractioning–with no chance of clogging. What’s more, each glass piece is made of heavy wall, borosilicate glass 3.3. This is the most heat, cold, and corrosion resistant available.
To learn more about new research looking into CBD for pets, click here:
