CBD Oil for Cats with Cancer

Can CBD Oil Help Cats with Cancer?

Cancer can happen in many animals, especially mammals. Cancer is caused by a mutation to genes, which in turn makes cells that have become abnormal divide in an uncontrollable manner. This is how tumors are formed. If cancer targets a specific area in the body, sometimes it has the ability to spread to other parts. This act of spreading is called metastasis.

There are many medical treatments available that can help target cancer and reduce its symptoms, as well as prevent it from metastasizing. However, these treatments are expensive, and sometimes they don’t make a difference at all, as the cancer comes back or worsens.

If your pet has cancer, you’re probably trying to find out what all of your options are for treatment. Luckily, there are some natural and viable alternatives to traditional treatments, such as CBD oil, which is also known as cannabidiol. It’s a nutrient that’s plant based and a superfood. It offers many benefits for your cat’s health, and can possibly help in many ways. CBD can help cats who have cancer, as it naturally alleviates many of the symptoms they may be suffering from, and it works well in conjunction with other treatments that are more traditional.

The Benefits of CBD

CBD (cannabidiol) is among 80 cannabinoids from the cannabis plant which are all different. The cannabinoid that’s most well known is THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. This is the primary compound in marijuana and is what delivers the “high” that marijuana is known for. However, CBD is very different than THC, and it does not contain any psychoactive properties. This means that using CBD oil will not get your cat high, and it won’t create any kind of toxic effect.

CBD works because it interacts with a mammal’s endocannabinoid system, or ECS. You have an ECS, and your cat has an ECS. CBD copies the natural endocannabinoids that occur in this system, which are compounds that have a role in many different functions that take place throughout the body. This means that the ECS plays a role in inflammation, appetite, pain, and many other things. It’s controlled through cannabinoid receptors that are located throughout the endocannabinoid system.

The ECS has two primary receptors:

• CB1, receptors which are primarily located within the brain, and which are mainly responsible for the management and regulation of inflammation and pain.
• CB2, receptors which are located throughout the whole body, and which are mainly responsible for the regulation of functions of the immune system, which are very important, and which includes the targeting and destruction of cells that carry cancer.

CBD has the ability to treat a wide variety of ailments because the endocannabinoid system has distinct channels that run through the entire body, and which come into contact with every important organ and every system within the body. CBD is also very adaptable, and this is what enables it to treat several different conditions and symptoms that tend to occur to mammals. Another reason that CBD is beneficial is that it comes without any side effects.

The abilities of CBD include:

• Acting as a painkiller that is highly effective
• Relieving inflammation that occurs through the entire body
• Treating restlessness, anxiety, and agitation
• Treating nausea and vomiting
• Promoting cardiovascular health overall; increasing “good” fat levels
• Fighting against various types of cells that carry cancer, and fighting against the spread of these cells
• Treating tremors and spasms that can inflict the muscles
• Controlling appetite, and stabilizing weight
• Stabilizing the levels of blood sugar, which reduces your cat’s risk of contracting diabetes  
• Achieving healthy sleep patterns, which includes getting deep and comfortable rest and being able to stay more awake/alert during the daytime
• Treating different forms of gastrointestinal disease, which includes irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhea
• Treating pancreatitis, which can negatively impact many cats

If CBD oil is used in cats who have contracted cancer, it can work in tandem with other types of treatments to help alleviate what the cat is going through, no matter which type of cancer they have. This is due to the fact that CBD is able to interact with CB2 and CB1 receptors, which leads to increased levels of ceramide, which is a compound with chemical properties. This chemical compound has the ability to disrupt cancer cells as they produce energy. It’ll rob these cells of their required nutrients, which prevents them from being replicated, and essentially “starves” them until they die away.

What Types of Cancer Could My Cat Have?

If your cat has cancer, the disease will metastasize, or spread, through the lymph nodes and into other areas of the body. This happens no matter what type of mammal has cancer. Generally, cats tend to get cancer at much lower rates than dogs do, however this doesn’t mean your pet is unlikely to contract cancer at some point in their lifetime. In fact, 1 out of every 5 cats will eventually have cancer as they live.

Cats tend to have many of the same kinds of cancer that any mammal can get. The most common kinds of cancer that inflict mammals are:

• Lymphoma. For cats, this type of cancer tends to occur the most. It happens when leukocytes, or white blood cells, replicate uncontrollably. Generally it impacts the kidneys, intestines, nasal cavity, lymph nodes, and/or liver. Luckily, a lot of feline lymphomas can be cured, and chemotherapy is an effective treatment.
• Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Cells that are squamous live in the linings or skin of organs, such as the digestive and respiratory tracts, within mammals. It’s a type of skin cancer that can impact these specific cells, and it’ll appear as ulcers or lumps either in your cat’s mouth, or within different organs’ lining.  
• Fibrosarcoma. A sarcoma is a broad kind of cancer that happens in cells that are known as fibroblasts. These cells are located in the skin which produces fibers and collagen, a type of protein. This protein provides elasticity to skin. If your cat has this kind of cancer, it’ll appear in their fibrous connective tissues, and their muscles.

If My Cat Has Cancer, What Symptoms Will They Show?

These are the top ten most commonly occurring symptoms of cancer in cats:

• Sores or ulcers that refuse to heal
• Weight loss that is concerning or excessive
• Swelling or abnormal growth that impacts odd areas of the body
• A loss of appetite that is unusual
• Any type of bleeding or discharge that occurs from an orifice
• An offensive or overpowering negative odor
• An inability to swallow or eat
• A weakness or fatigue that’s chronic and won’t go away
• Pain or a stiffness to joints when your pet tries to move
• Issues with the respiratory system
• Difficulty urinating or defecating

A symptom of cancer in cats that’s very worrying is when they begin to vomit excessively. If this happens, you should take it very seriously, as it’s very unusual. Although dogs tend to vomit a lot, cats rarely do. Another symptom that’s concerning is if your cat begins to hide a lot and you can’t find them. Cats enjoy being alone, however, if they do it too much, this could be a sign there’s a bigger problem going on.

How Is My Cat’s Cancer Caused?

There are many different reasons that mammals can contract cancer. They include:  

• • Carcinogens. These are chemicals that, over time, led to genetic mutations. These mutations over time cause cells that are cancerous. A lot of carcinogens that impact humans also tend to impact cats: radiation from x-rays, benzene, tobacco smoke, nickel, radon, uranium, vinyl chloride, asbestos, and cadmium. Some substances are naturally present in the environment your cat lives in, especially if their owner tends to smoke.
  • Aging. Aging is one of the top causes for cancer. There’s many reasons as to why old age could increase cancer rates within mammals. Partly, it’s due to our cells merely accumulating lots of mutations as the years go by. If mutations increase in number, it’s more likely that cancerous cells may begin to divide uncontrollably. As a mammal gets older, their body also begins to disintegrate in general. Over time, a mammal’s DNA will become damaged by inflammation that’s chronic. The immune system also gets weaker and weaker, which means that it won’t be able to detect and destroy cells that have cancer quickly and efficiently enough.
  • Fibrosarcoma. When this occurs in cats, it typically develops at the site of injections. Many medicines such as antibiotics, steroids, insuline, and vaccines are injected into cats. If this happens, it becomes feline injection-site sarcoma. If you’d like to avoid your cat developing this, your vet can put a restriction on how many injections your cat receives, as well as where exactly the medications are injected.  
  • Viruses. Many viruses, such as feline sarcoids, are able to cause cancer. Feline sarcoids happen due to papillomavirus, a virus that causes mammals to have warts. Up until the point a vaccine for this was created, feline leukemia virus was the biggest source of lymphomas in felines.
  • Sterilization. If a cat has either not been spayed, or they were spayed later on in their lifetime, this comes with an increased risk of getting breast cancer, or mammary cancer. If your cat is spayed after they’re six months old, they’re up to 6 times more likely to develop breast cancer.

As a matter of fact, as much as one third of all tumors occur due to lifestyle and environmental factors. Nutrition, viruses, hormones, and carcinogens such as UV light, pesticides, polluted sites, waste incinerators, canned cat food, and radioactive waste all can increase the risk of your cat’s cancer.

Are There Things I Can Do To Ensure My Pet Doesn’t Get Cancer?

Making sure your pet is spayed is extremely important if you wish to reduce their risk of contracting cancer. If they’re spayed before their first heat cycle, they have a 0.5% chance of contracting mammary cancer. If they’re spayed after the first heat cycle, this chance goes up to 8%, and if they experience two heat cycles, the chance increases even more to 26%. The reason for all of this is thought to be that the hormones that are released during heat cycles cause mutations to the mammary tissue, and this leads to the eventual development of tumors.

You should also take care to never smoke around your pet. There’s a definite correlation between exposure to tobacco smoke, and the development of oral cancer in cats. The hypothesis that scientists have reached is that the carcinogens that are located in cigarette smoke deposit into your cat’s fur, and when your cat grooms, they accidentally ingest these particles. This leads to the development of tumors in their mouth.  

When it comes to exposure to pesticides and herbicides, studies have shown conflicting results as to whether these influence the development of cancer in cats. Some of these studies have shown that there is indeed an increased risk for lymphoma development, which is a cancer to the white blood cells. Other studies however have disputed this risk. Because the results of these studies are inconclusive, it’s recommended that cat owners try to minimize their pet’s exposure to be safe. If you ever get worried, discuss your concerns with your vet.

It’s important to remember that the “cause and effects” of cancer are typically very difficult to prove. This is true even for studies that are well designed and well funded. So, if you’re conducting research on the topic of feline cancer, you need to be careful, and take all the information you learn with a grain of salt. There are hundreds of possible interactions between influences of environments and genes, for both humans and animals. There are multiple things that can cause the development of tumors. In the end, it’s possible that we might not ever know exactly how cancer is caused in the first place.

While it’s important for owners to attempt to understand exactly how their beloved pet contracted cancer, what many veterinarians attempt to have you focus on is that once you’ve received the diagnosis, what you should really be concerned about is developing a plan for treatment. This way, you can provide your pet with the best quality of life possible, for as long as you possibly can. Your cat can live a long and healthy life, as long as you do the right treatment for their cancer. A focus on what you can do and what’s happening in the present can also help you deal emotionally with your pet’s diagnosis.

What Are Some Mainstream Treatments, and What Are Some Natural, Alternative Remedies?   

Veterinary care that is conventional is actually very crucial to your cat’s health, as well as their overall prognosis, because it can be effective when it comes to both identifying and treating causes that could have potentially had a hand in the development of your cat’s cancer. If there’s any lumps or bumps discovered on the body of your cat, particularly located in their lymph nodes or within their mouth, a diagnosis can be reached quickly, and your cat can begin treatment as soon as possible.

There are many effective, traditional treatments for cancer in cats. These include:

• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Surgery
• Immunotherapy, which is able to boost the cat’s natural response of their immune system to the presence of cancerous cells
• Cryotherapy, which is very similar surgery, except it differs in the fact that it freezes lesions in order to remove them through the use of nitrous oxide or liquid nitrogen

A really fascinating fact about the way that cancer is treated in cats, is that cats tend have a higher tolerance toward chemotherapy than any other type of mammal, including humans. Chemotherapy can have a very brutal effect on humans, as well as dogs. But cats don’t experience any side effects that are debilitating, and these include side effects that all other species experience as they undergo chemotherapy.

Spaying or neutering your cat can reduce the risk of certain cancers dramatically. You can also protect your cat’s general health with a high quality diet that’s nutritious. CBD oil is a great supplement to give to cats who have cancer, as is it provides a boost to their overall health and can help to alleviate certain symptoms of cancer, including vomiting and weakness. It also reduces your cat’s risk of developing a different condition that could impact their immune system.

CBD is highly effective especially if it’s used as your pet is also undergoing conventional treatment. It’s a natural remedy that doesn’t interfere with therapies that are more mainstream, and in fact, it actually gives them a boost. Even veterinarians themselves are utilizing CBD oil as a means to treat cats who have cancer.

How Can I Give CBD To My Cat?

CBD oil is very easy to administer. You can provide it to your cat in tincture form, where you put a few drops underneath their tongue, or you can sprinkle some oil into their pet food during meals. CBD is non-toxic and safe, but you should begin with a small dosage, then increase from there. In no time, you’ll see the beneficial effects in your pet.