How to Treat Pain and Inflammation in Dogs

Inflammation in dogs is common. It is caused by arthritis. And statistics have it that in every four dogs, one of them has arthritis.

Even though conventional medicine has proven to provide a solution to this menace, it comes along with many side effects. Luckily, research has brought out another solution. And that is cannabis for dogs.

In this article, I’m going to take you through how you can treat the pain and inflammation without using the conventional medicines. All your questions such as the dosage and how it will work will be answered.

You might be wondering what arthritis is?

Arthritis is a general term referring to diseases that cause degeneration and pain in the joints. In every joint, there is cartilage. It is a tissue that seeks to absorb shock. And when arthritis sets in, it causes inflammation. A condition that will cause havoc to the health of you dog. It results in stiffness of the muscles in the joint. And the ultimate result is extreme pain during the movement.

In most cases, it affects older dogs. But it can also affect dogs of all ages alike. This happens when there are injuries in the joints or when some infections affect any of the joints.

The worst part:

When inflammation in the joints occurs, movement becomes an issue with your dog. It will thus resort to sleep and reduction in the physical activity. The result is your dog gradually gaining more weight with time. This will worsen the situation since the joints will be subjected to more weight. Your dog will thus feel more pain and further reduce physical activity.

How is inflammation in dogs treated?

The good thing is that inflammation in dogs can be treated. It is entirely manageable. We have both the conventional medications as well as the natural way. Vet doctors would recommend the use of anti-inflammatory drugs as well as a painkiller to suppress the pain. The problem is that such medications have many side effects. Reports show that the commonly used medications such as Rimadyl or Metacam cause seizures, vomiting, jaundice, increased in aggression and stomach ulcers among others.

This is worrying. It puts you in a dilemma between leaving your dog to battle with the disease or treating with such medications which will still lead to a host of problems.

This is where this new drug comes in. It offers the most needed solution. A solution that has reduced a number of side effects, all which are mild and entirely manageable. The drug can also treat inflammation in dogs with no side effects at all.

This is a drug that is generated from the cannabis sativa plant; a plant that has more than 60 chemicals. Put together; such chemicals are referred to as cannabinoids. The specific chemical that heals inflammation here is the CBD. This is one of the two main cannabinoids. The other is THC, which is known for making people or even pets to feel high, the way a human would. This is one major reason why the use of the drug was illegal for a long time.

Now:

 How does it work?

Simply put, they are anti-inflammatory in nature. When administered in the right doses, this chemical will reduce inflammation gradually. It treats torn ligaments and sprains. It also treats against strains.  By the end of the day, your dog will be relieved of stiffness in the joints and relieved from pain.

Treatment against inflammation in dogs

How it brings about this is by enhancing the activity of the ECS. When this happens, swelling that occurs in the joints is reduced. It also reduces inflammations in any other part of the body. Whether there is an inflammation in the lungs or the brain of the dog, it will help reduce them.

Treatment against the pain in dogs

It goes without saying that by reducing inflammations, you will have already done away with the menace of pain coming with it.

All the same, it provides relief if the pain that your dog is experiencing was from another disease:

It has long been established that cannabis for dogs has pain relieving properties. This ensures that the pain resulting from inflammation or any other disease is reduced even before the disease is healed.

How do we administer the drug?

This drug can be administered in two forms. One is topical application, and the other is oral. One thing about this chemical is that is works even better when administered with other natural medications. When that happens, the combination gives synergistic effects.

Even though research on dosing of this drug is at its infancy, we already know that starting with a small quantity as you increase the dose is the way to go.

This is why:

This drug works differently for different dogs. The rule of the thumb is thus to administer small doses as you watch the response of the dog. Even if you have two dogs suffering from arthritis, treating the two against inflammation might require two different approaches when it comes to dosing. You thus have to treat each dog independently and establish the specific dose that works specifically for it.

The reason you should be keen here is to prevent your dog from experiencing psychoactive effects resulting when the drug’s therapeutic doses are exceeded.

This is how to go about dosage:

The first thing is to determine the weight of your dog. Then for the first week of treatment, give a single CBD drop for every 10 lbs of the weight of the dog with inflammations once a day. You can administer it in the morning or evening. So if your dog weighs 70 lbs, you will have to administer 7 drops daily for the first week.

For the second week, adjust to the same amount, but twice a day. You could give respective drops in the morning and another in the evening. Do these as you observe for any developing side effects. If there are no side effects, you will have to adjust the amount you administer after 4 or 5 days again. As you do that, check for the response. If your dog responds well to any given dose, that is the dose to use to treat inflammation in the dog.

In a rare event that you observed some arising side effects, this is what to do:

• Stop administering such drugs until they recover from such side effects. And once they recover, start administering the doses again, but this time with a smaller dose as you increase gradually.
• You can also check the manufacturer’s recommendations to arrive at the average starting dose.

The rule of the thumb here is to arrive at that dosage where your dogs will respond well with no developing side effects.

This is what you need to keep in mind for better results

For better results, while treating inflammation in dogs, you need to administer the drugs yourself. Changing the person who does the operation even if done carefully will compromise on the dosage. You need to do that yourself. And if you can’t do it, have one person to do that.

Another thing is to keep the drugs in a secure place. If your dogs can access them, they might take them leading to an overdose.

How long will it take to see results?

You might be wondering how long you should wait to get results from such medication.

Generally speaking, herbal medication does not work as fast as conventional medicine would.

Their mechanism of the action takes some time, but eventually, they will work.

While treating pain, the process will take a few hours for your dog to feel better. For inflammations, they will respond after a couple of days. But eventually, your dogs will be relieved.

Here are the responses to observe

Virtually all the medications for any illnesses come with some side effects. And to be honest, going the natural way is far better as compared with the conventional medications. In overall, you might see the following side effects, especially of overdose:

The toxicity of tetrahydrocannabinol commonly known as THC is common.

It will make your dogs feel high. If this happens following an overdose of CBD, you will have to take your dog to a vet.

Another observed side effect while treating inflammation in dogs is drowsiness. There is no need to worry if that happens. You will only need to regulate the dose and avoid giving an overdose.

If it is serious, it is recommended that you first stop until the dog becomes better for you to go on with the dose.

If the side effect is adverse, it is recommended that take your dog to the veterinarian.

Conclusion

Treating inflammation in dogs should not be any more complicated. The drug has been established to work efficiently. The reason why you should consider this drug in place of the conventional medications is that it spares your dog from the many side effects.