Cute Pets Post

I was a huge skeptic of this miracle tonic that was hitting social media like a tsunami, CBD oil. Marketers, and some users, were claiming that CBD oil took care of pretty much anything that ailed you. I was not buying it. I had experience with homemade CBD products, primarily CBD dominant weed ground up and added to a crock pot with coconut oil. It worked great as a balm, but you would never consider drinking it, that was strike two.

On the afternoon of November 12, 2015, my dog Buddy suddenly could not stand up without leaning against a wall, he had zero balance and he vomited, so I took him to an emergency pet hospital since his usual vet could not fit him in that day. The "vet" that examined him told me he was either high on marijuana or had a brain tumor. She said I would know in a few hours if he was high. I knew he was not high, but thought the diagnosis of a brain tumor was unjustified since there had been no tests done on him. It was at this point that I decided that veterinarians were about as reliable as people doctors; they just guess a lot and I pretty much lost all confidence in the medical profession for humans and pets.

Buddy was born August 6, 2006, so he was 9.25 years old at the time. Buddy is a mutt that looks like a Border Collie, but is primarily Golden Retriever and Australian Shepherd. At the time he probably weighed just under 60 pounds at the time. He is always lively and has a good appetite; nothing would make you think he had a problem. About 24 hours after this episode, he was back to normal.

The morning of July 11, 2016, almost exactly eight months later I awoke to what I thought was Buddy yawning. When I looked over the side of my bed I realized Buddy was having some kind of seizure. His body was tense, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, and foaming at the mouth. All I could do was roll out of bed and hug him tightly. I am sure the seizure only lasted a minute or two, even if it seemed longer. Other than Buddy acting like my shadow for the rest of the day, everything seemed fine. It was at this point that people starred suggesting using CBD, and they all had their stories of why I should. The only problem is that none of the people that were suggesting CBD had pets that were experiencing the same thing as Buddy; the rare person that spoke of a dog with seizures had a dog that had several seizures a day; or at least several a week. If Buddy seizures were more frequent, I might have tried CBD early on, but it seemed like an unaffordable expense for a "might help" suggestion.

In the next 11 months, Buddy had four more seizures like the one of July 11; they occurred September 12, 2016, February 25, 2017, April 10, 2017 and June 1, 2017. As the seizures were definitely more frequent I had brought him to his usual vet who conducted all kinds of tests for older dogs; they all came back clean. The vet suggested he might have epilepsy, which I discovered is just a catch-all for a seizure they cannot explain medically. I asked the vet about using CBD since people kept suggesting it. Her response was that she had not read any "white paper" on the subject so she would not recommend it. When I called local pet stores about obtaining CBD, none seemed to even know what it was.

After the June 1 seizure I went back to the vet (June 6, 2017); at that point she put Buddy on Keppra. I was a little surprised to have to go to a regular pharmacy to get the prescription filled so I researched a little and discovered the side effects included depression and suicidal thoughts! I was not really sure how to tell if Buddy was suicidal. I did notice that he started lying under the kitchen table, which he never did before, so I watched for him trying to stab himself on a kitchen knife or something.

While I am making light of the fact that he was on a drug for people, the sad thing is that he had a seizure three months later (September 11), then another three months (December 25, 2017), and then again three months later on March 30, 2018. He still had enough Keppra left to make it through April 19, 2018, but I stopped refilling the prescription after it ran out. He had had three seizures in 9 months; Keppra was not helping. Luckily, all the seizures happened early in the morning, and he was sleeping by my bed so I was able to roll out and hold him tight, which seemed to help. The morning of June 5, he had what I can only describe as an episode. There were signs that he had possibly had a seizure, but was out in the den when it happened; so I cannot really be sure that he had a seizure as I did not observe it. A few days later I received a bottle of Just Pets CBD infused dog treats from my friends at Crush.

The dog treat dosage is 100mg per bottle of about 22 treats.

When I started Buddy on the dog treats I read the instructions that suggested 1-3 treats per 12 hours. I started him off on 1-2 every 12 hours, primarily because I wanted to build the CBD in him. Unfortunately, it was very hot around here last summer and shortly after I started him on CBD he started having stomach issues, ala diarrhea. I honestly did not know if it was the heat or the CBD that was causing his problems. Deciding to err on the side of caution, I discontinued the CBD and put Buddy on a fast for a couple days, until I noticed that his poop had become firm again.

After I was sure that everything was good in Buddy’s stomach again, I decided to try the CBD treats again with the addition of JUST CBD, a CBD oil that came in a 550mg dosage per bottle. I cut all the dog treats in half and gave him half a treat in the morning, with a dropper full of oil at night. This occurred at the end of June.

I am writing this at the end of April 2019; since then I have given Buddy doses of CBD every morning and every night. Admittedly, I was not very scientific, I just figured that if I kept giving him CBD twice a day, eventually I would figure out if it is working or not.

It has been 10 months; Buddy has not had any seizures since early June (if that was a real seizure). Look at the dates again:

November 12, 2015 – 1st seizure
July 11, 2016 (8 months)
Sept 12, 2016 (2 months)
Feb 25, 2017 (5 months)
April 10, 2017 (1.5 months)
June 1, 2017 (2 months)
September 11, 2017 (3 months)
December 25, 2017 (3 months)
March 30, 2018 (3 months)
June 5, 2018 - possible (2 months)

Buddy has gone from having a seizure every two months, to not having one in 10 months. The only difference is the addition of CBD to his daily diet.

I have not told his veterinarian yet because I am going to wait until June to let her know it has been a year. Hopefully this will act as a white paper for her so she is comfortable suggesting CBD to her pet patients.

I have a couple tips for new users of CBD on their pets.
1) If using CBD infused treats, work your way up, or down in your dosage. They are easy to cut up.
2) I have heard people say they put CBD on their dog’s food; this is a very inefficient way of administering any type of edible. I used to squirt it down his throat, but after time I realized that it is a lot easier to see how much your pet is getting if you put some on your hand, and let them lick it off your hand. This way the CBD is administered on the tongue, which is always going to be the most efficient means of getting it into their blood system.