Welfare and Behaviour
Does CBD help cats deal with stress?
New study investigates the impact of cannabidiol (CBD) on cats as they experience a stressful event: travelling in a carrier to meet an unknown person in an unfamiliar environment.
Pet owners will be all too familiar with the stress many cats experience travelling in a carrier and being placed in an unfamiliar environment to meet a new person, such as veterinarian. Unfortunately, these situations are often an unavoidable part of a cat’s life.
At Waltham Petcare Science Institute, we are always looking for ways to improve the wellbeing of pets. And with the rising popularity of CBD pet products, our latest research, by Weller et al, set out to test whether CBD can alleviate stress in cats.
While previous research in this area has focused on how CBD interacts with cats on a biological level (pharmacokinetics), Weller et al’s research is one of few to investigate CBD’s impact on measures of stress in cats.
CBD vs placebo
Forty healthy adult domestic short-haired cats, were used in the study. They experienced a ‘stress paradigm’ consisting of being transported in a cat carrier and meeting a novel person in an unfamiliar environment. Each received both a 4 mg/kg bodyweight CBD dose and a placebo across two separate occasions, over an eight-week trial period.
Using this design, the research team could measure the effects on feline stress indicators before, during and after a stressful event. Measures included physiological markers like serum cortisol and glucose levels, as well as behavioral responses.
The findings give us much to think about
The study found that a single dose of CBD did not significantly affect physiological or behavioral stress markers in cats.
It is important to base the use of CBD-infused pet products on scientific evidence to ensure safety and efficacy. And these results certainly highlight the need for ongoing research to understand CBD’s use and the appropriate dosages in companion animal health.
Despite the lack of significant stress reduction, the study confirmed that cats tolerated the single dose of CBD treatment without adverse health effects, indicating its safety for use in further investigations. The findings from which, we hope, could one day lead to less stress for cats.
