A Study at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and ElleVet Sciences analyzed 29 CBD supplements marketed for dogs and found:

• Heavy metal contamination in 4 of 29 products, most commonly lead. Arsenic and cadmium were detected as well.
• 2 products contained no cannabinoids at all.
• Only 10 of 29 products were within 10% of the CBD concentrations reported on their label. There have been similar results in reviews of human-labelled CBD products.
• All products contained less than 0.3% THC, which means pets should be safe from THC-intoxication.

Tips for Choosing a CBD Supplement

If you decide to use a CBD supplement for your pet, choose your brand wisely! Hemp seed oil is well known to contain minimal CBD/terpenes. Make sure the manufacturer can supply a Certificate of Analysis of the final product from a third party lab. An analysis of the raw ingredients used to make the product is not sufficient.

Know that these products are not FDA-regulated, so you may not be getting what the label says, and you may inadvertently be intoxicating your pet with lead or other heavy metals. Consider choosing a well studied brand, like ones used in clinical trials at Cornell and Colorado State University studies.

Read more insights from Dr. Alison!