Abstract
Growing public interest in the use of cannabidiol (CBD) for companion animals has amplified the need to elucidate potential impacts. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of CBD on the daily activity of adult dogs. Twenty-four dogs (18.0 ± 3.4 kg, 9 months−4 years old) of various mixed breeds were utilized in a randomized complete block design with treatments targeted at 0 and 2.5 mg (LOW) and at 5.0 mg (HIGH) CBD/kg body weight (BW) per day split between two treats administered after twice-daily exercise (0700–0900 and 1,700–1,900 h). Four hours each day [1,000–1,200 h (a.m.) and 1,330–1,530 h (p.m.)] were designated as times when no people entered the kennels, with 2 h designated as Quiet time and the other 2 h as Music time, when calming music played over speakers. Quiet and Music sessions were randomly allotted to daily a.m. or p.m. times. Activity monitors were fitted to dogs' collars for continuous collection of activity data. Data were collected over a 14-day baseline period to establish the activity patterns and block dogs by activity level (high or low) before randomly assigning dogs within each block to treatments. After 7 days of treatment acclimation, activity data were collected for 14 days. Data were examined for differences using the MIXED procedure in SAS including effects of treatment, day, session (Quiet or Music), time of day (a.m. or p.m.), and accompanying interactions. CBD (LOW and HIGH) did not alter the total daily activity points (P = 0.985) or activity duration (P = 0.882). CBD tended (P = 0.071) to reduce total daily scratching compared with the control. Dogs were more active in p.m. sessions than in a.m. sessions (P < 0.001). During the p.m. session, dogs receiving HIGH tended (P = 0.091) to be less active than the control (CON). During the a.m. and p.m. sessions, CBD reduced scratching compared with CON (P = 0.030). CBD did not affect the activity duration during exercise periods (P = 0.143). These results indicate that, when supplemented with up to 4.5 mg CBD/kg BW/day, CBD does not impact the daily activity of adult dogs, but may exert an antipruritic effect.
Highlights
Pet owners and caretakers are increasingly interested in monitoring their animals’ behavior and activity as indicators of health and well-being
With the exceptions of activity duration, running, walking, and scratching, all variables were affected by day of treatment (P < 0.05), but there were no treatment by day interactions (P > 0.05)
Activity duration, running, walking, and resting increased in the p.m. compared to the a.m. (P < 0.001), while the duration of No Activity decreased in the p.m. compared to a.m. (P < 0.001)
Summary
Pet owners and caretakers are increasingly interested in monitoring their animals’ behavior and activity as indicators of health and well-being. Several triaxial accelerometers have been validated for the measurement of canine activity and can be attached to a collar or harness for home use [7,8,9,10] They have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for osteoarthritis and pruritic behaviors [11,12,13,14], the effects of exercise and rest on the voluntary activity of active sled dogs [15, 16], and to predict rest in dogs and sleep in humans [17,18,19]. They often investigate alternatives to conventional medications, such as cannabidiol (CBD)
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