The National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) has shared positive results from a recently completed study, which has been submitted for peer review, showing the tolerability of broad spectrum cannabidiol (CBD), broad spectrum CBD with cannabigerol (CBG) and broad-spectrum CBD with cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) in healthy male and female dogs when given a daily dose of 5 mg total cannabinoids per kg of body weight for 90 consecutive days.

The market for pet supplements has experienced healthy, sustained growth in recent years, representing about $3 billion in annual sales.

As they have for their own health, consumers have turned to CBD products to help support and maintain quality of life for their pets and these products have been shown to have a variety of benefits.

This study is unique due to supporting data from the NASC’s Adverse Event Reporting System (NAERS), which Bill Bookout, president of NASC called “the most advanced system of post market surveillance in the world.”

“Through this system, NASC members enter their products, ingredients, administration recommendations into the NAERS database along with the number of units in each container provided to customers,” Bookout explained. “These collective data are processed by algorithms in the system and Adverse Events, both serious and non-serious can be compared and analyzed per million administrations.”

Study Details

In the randomized, non-blinded, negative controlled, parallel design repeat dose study, healthy dogs (16 males and 16 females) at least 6-months of age were randomly placed into four groups and given either medium chain triglyceride oil as the control or one of the following: a broad spectrum CBD, a broad spectrum CBD with CBG, or a broad spectrum CBD with CBDA at 5 mg total cannabinoids/kg body weight/day for 90 consecutive days. Animals were observed daily with detailed clinical examinations conducted weekly. Body weights, food consumption and clinical pathology evaluations were included in the study as well.

“This research is a game-changer for pet health, offering an expanded horizon for veterinarians, industry, and pet owners alike,” said Dr. Margitta Dziwenka, DVM, DABT, director of preclinical and companion animal services for Nutrasource. “These findings grant us a renewed sense of confidence in exploring CBD product development for use in companion animals, so that industry can confidently answer the call and growing demand for natural and alternative products.”

Results showed that cannabinoids were well tolerated when healthy male and female dogs were dosed for 90 consecutive days. Upon completion, all animals were reported to have no serious adverse events reported during the study. Post-market surveillance data for hemp-derived supplement products sold for use in dogs from 2010 to April 2023 shows that the rate per 1 million administrations sold is 2.19 and 0.01, for adverse events and serious adverse events, respectively. Based on the data available it was the conclusion of the authors that these substances do not pose significant risk to dogs in long-term use.