Disclaimer: The information provided in our articles is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional veterinary advice. It is essential to consult with a veterinarian before starting any CBD products for your dog’s health and well-being.
We all love our dogs and we’re willing to do everything we can to make sure they’re safe and happy. So if they develop cancer, arthritis, or even suffer from anxiety, CBD oil is a great way of helping them manage these problems to continue living a happy life.
But what if we give our dogs too much CBD? Is it so dangerous that we end up causing them pain or distress? Pet CBD oil is a natural extract from the hemp plant and not the same as giving marijuana to dogs, but it doesn’t stop us from worrying about giving our pups too high a CBD dosage.
In short, panicky pet parents can relax since their dogs won’t overdose on hemp-derived CBD products formulated for pets. However, they can still experience unfortunate side effects if you give them too much at once.
How CBD Affects the Health of Dogs
Cannabidiol is extracted from a cannabis plant and contains hundreds of cannabinoids. These are active chemical compounds that interact with a dog’s endocannabinoid system to regulate bodily functions in their nervous and immune systems.
This helps balance their sleep, mood, pain, appetite, and more. Any imbalance in the endocannabinoid system can lead to increasing levels of anxiety and pain, as well as insomnia and poor appetite.
Studies have found that by interacting with the endocannabinoid system, CBD reduces anxiety, eases pain, and combats insomnia to give your dog a chance to relax, fall asleep naturally and alleviate pain. This makes CBD products perfect for either pain or mood management.
So, if your dog suffers from arthritis or cancer, CBD oil can moderate pain and inflammation and even lubricate their joints. If your dog suffers from anxiety and struggles to calm down, best CBD oil has an anxiolytic effect that reduces stress and anxiety levels to help them get to sleep.
There are other health benefits to CBD products, such as helping with digestion and nausea, supporting the immune system, and treating epileptic seizures, but fortunately, come with no adverse side effects.
Can a Dog Overdose on CBD?
The good news is that hemp-derived CBD is natural and safe for dogs. You don’t even have to worry about it interacting with other drugs or medication either! However, it’s still recommended to check in with a veterinarian to make sure that everything is okay.
Although there are various methods of giving your dog CBD oil, it’s not difficult to find a way that works for you and your dog. However, since oils have higher concentrations of CBD and because dogs are so keen on CBD treats, there’s always a possibility that you could give them too high a dose for their body weight.
If to you overdosing means giving your dog too much CBD, then yes, dogs can overdose. However, it’s very unlikely to harm your dog in the long run. Although you can’t overdose your dog in a medical way, you can give them such a high dose that they become sick.
Luckily, any adverse side effects from this tend to go away by themselves within 24 hours, but it’s best to give them the right dosage to avoid this altogether.
CBD Overdose vs. THC Toxicity
Although you’re unlikely to give your pup a dangerous overdose of CBD oil, the wrong type of CBD could lead to toxicity. This is slightly different from an overdose; toxicity is when a toxic substance builds up and poisons your dog, resulting in dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting, tremors, and seizures.
Pet CBD extracts cannabidiol from the hemp plant, not the marijuana plant. That’s because cannabidiol from organic hemp does not come with high levels of THC. THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is just one of the many compounds in cannabis plants. It’s the psychoactive compound that creates a high in humans and is actually toxic to dogs, affecting dog heart rate and dog’s body temperature and sometimes even causing seizures or a coma.
If you give your dog CBD from a marijuana plant, it will likely have high levels of toxic THC that lead to toxicity in your dog. However, with low levels of THC from a hemp plant, it’s unlikely your dog will experience any toxicity.
Recommended CBD Dosage
Since hemp-derived CBD for pets is all-natural and largely THC-free, you don’t have to worry about giving your dog large doses. Working out how much CBD is the correct dosage only requires simple math.
As a general rule, the recommended dosage is to administer 1mg to 5mg of CBD for every 10 lbs of your dog’s weight. If needed, you can go higher, but it’s best to start with a lower dose and slowly increase it over time until you hit the sweet spot.
Importance of High-Quality CBD for Dogs
There’s nothing more important to a dog owner than their pup. So it’s not surprising that pet-related products are part of a billion-dollar industry. In 2022 alone, dog owners in the US spent over $135 billion on their fur babies, including food, treats, supplies, vet care, and more.
When there’s such a thriving industry, there’s always going to be people trying to piggyback on its success with products of their own. But when they care more about profits than pets, you cannot guarantee they’ll produce the high-quality CBD products your dogs deserve.
It’s every dog owner’s responsibility to pick a high-quality THC-free CBD that’s safe for their dog to avoid any adverse negative effects or toxicity.
How to Look for the Best CBD Oil
The best way to find CBD for your dog is to shop carefully and do your research on hemp vs. CBD for dogs to understand the basic difference. In general, you should find one where cannabidiol is extracted via CO2 since it’s the cleanest method and contains few ingredients other than cannabidiol and carrier oil.
Additionally, it should have been third-party lab tested, have a NASC quality seal, and a range of positive customer reviews.
One of our top recommendations would be Honest Paws Well Oil. Honest Paws is a well-known and trusted brand that specializes in pet CBD oil. They offer three different formulas, each with four concentrations between 125mg and 1000mg.
Their Mobility formula is best for dog arthritis, but we would recommend Well, which also happens to be the best oil for dogs with cancer. Well is a versatile formula that gives your dog immunity and cognitive support along with all the other benefits of CBD.
What Happens If Dogs Overdose on CBD?
If you’ve measured out the right amount of CBD oil, it’s unlikely you’ll give your pup so much that you’ll notice any overdose symptoms. However, if your pup breaks into a whole bag of CBD treats, you might start to notice something.
If you suspect your pup has had too much cannabidiol or THC, the main thing to do is not to panic and ensure that your dog stays relaxed while you make sure what the problem is.
Side Effects of CBD Overdose
Whenever I give my little cockapoo any new medication or even food she’s never had before, I keep my eyes on her like a hawk, looking out for any hint of a side effect and sending videos to my vet. I know how scary it can be to give something like CBD to your dog, so here are the warning signs of an overdose to look out for.
Fortunately, none of the negative side effects are particularly worrying. Most likely, your dog will just be sluggish and show extreme drowsiness, almost as if they’re about to fall asleep. For many, this is the reason pet owners gave their dog CBD product in the first place, but an overdose would be more than normal to the extent that your pup naps all day long.
However, CBD does not interact with brainstem receptors and does not induce respiratory depression. Additionally, your dog might have an upset stomach with nausea, diarrhea, and in extreme cases, you may even notice dog vomiting. There’s a chance they might go to the bathroom indoors, but this would be an accident, so don’t be mad at them for an overdose you caused!
Other infrequent symptoms include low blood pressure, urinary dribbling, and aggressive behavior or agitation.
Solutions to Look for After CBD Overdosing
If your dog has had too much, observe them over time and look after them in the same way you would when they normally get sick. Give them plenty of water and monitor how much they eat and sleep. Very often, your dog will get over it and be fine within just a few hours.
Remember not to panic. No dog has ever died from an overdose of CBD, so it’s very unlikely to happen to yours. However, if you are worried, there are a couple of routes you could go down.
Vet Visit
If your dog’s side effects go on for longer than 24 hours or seem particularly severe, it might be worth phoning a pet poison helpline or going to see the vet just to make sure there’s nothing dangerous going on. Bring along the CBD you used, and they can diagnose what’s up with your pup, whether it’s just the effects of too high a dosage or THC toxicity.
A veterinarian can usually diagnose by merely observing the symptoms, but in more unusual cases, they might take a urine sample and send it off to the lab for analysis; however, in many instances, this takes a few days, and your dog will likely have recovered by then.
If your vet decides that something more serious is going on, then phone a pet poison helpline or animal poison control center and kick things into emergency mode.
Emergency Situation
If your dog reacts badly or has a dangerous level of THC in their system, the veterinarian will induce vomiting. It’s important not to panic and try to do this yourself as you could injure your dog; veterinarians are trained and know the best way to do this. Also learn more about how low does CBD stays in dogs system.
If your dog has gastrointestinal upset, the veterinarian might prescribe anti-nausea medication or other medications something to help with diarrhea. In very severe cases, your dog might require hospitalization to monitor their recovery from THC poisoning. However, this is an extreme case and would only happen if you gave your dog something other than CBD formulated for pets.
If your pup has just had too much pet CBD, the prognosis is good, with a full recovery expected within 24 hours. If they have a case of THC poisoning, the prognosis might be different. If your dog consumes a small amount, you can expect a recovery in a few days, but if they ingest a large amount, it could prove to be lethal. So make sure to keep any CBD products not made for pets well away from dogs.
FAQ’s
Although CBD is largely safe for your dog, it’s perfectly normal for pet parents to have a whole load of questions to make sure it’s really safe.
Can a CBD Overdose Kill My Dog?
No, a dog has never died from having too much CBD, so it’s unlikely yours will either.
Unless they have a large dose of CBD made for humans with a high level of toxic THC, there’s a good likelihood they’ll recover from any adverse effects caused by too much CBD.
Is It Safe to Give CBD Daily to My Dog?
What you want to use CBD for can determine whether or not your dog needs it every day. Nevertheless, it’s certainly safe to do so, so long as it’s the right dose for them and formulated for pets.
Some dogs have CBD oil every day as part of a daily regimen, while others only use it on occasion when faced with certain stressors that trigger anxiety; for example, during fireworks or thunderstorms.
Can I Give Too Much CBD Oil to My Dog?
Yes, but it’s not something to panic about. It’s always best to measure out the correct dosage for best effects; too little CBD oil and you won’t see the benefits, while too much can cause side effects, like sluggishness, urinary incontinence, and occasionally vomiting.
However, even if you give your dog too much CBD oil, the side effects are usually temporary, and they should be back to their normal selves within 24 hours.
Is CBD Addictive?
Since CBD helps dogs alleviate anxiety or pain, your pup is sure to love it! But fortunately, CBD is not addictive, so you don’t need to worry about that. In fact, CBD can even be used for humans struggling to overcome drug addictions.
If CBD helps your dog with pain or anxiety, it might become a habit they enjoy since it helps them live a happier, pain-free life – but rest assured, there’s no risk of them becoming addicted.
Final Thoughts
We all encounter difficulties as we go through life, no matter whether it’s physical pain or mental problems – and your dog’s no different. But it’s every dog owner’s duty to help their fur baby through these times.
Luckily, you can find some success by giving CBD. So can dogs overdose on CBD oil? Since it’s an all-natural treatment, you don’t need to panic too much about giving them an overdose or causing them any pain or distress. Any side effects are minor and temporary, meaning it’s safe to use CBD to give your pooch the happy life they deserve.
