A 90-Day Study Found CBD Products Were Well Tolerated by Healthy Dogs
A 2024 study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science found that several hemp-derived cannabinoid products were well tolerated by healthy dogs when given daily for 90 days. The findings add safety data to a field that remains scientifically and regulatorily unsettled—but they do not establish that CBD treats anxiety, arthritis, seizures, skin disease, or other canine conditions.
The study was sponsored by the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) and involved 32 healthy beagles—16 males and 16 females. The dogs were randomly assigned to four groups: a control group receiving medium-chain triglyceride oil, and groups receiving broad-spectrum CBD, CBD combined with cannabigerol (CBG), or CBD combined with cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). Each treatment delivered a total of 5 milligrams of cannabinoids per kilogram of body weight per day.
Researchers monitored the dogs throughout the 90-day dosing period and for an additional 14 days after treatment ended. They recorded clinical observations, food consumption, body weight, and laboratory measures including blood counts and serum chemistry. Within the conditions tested, the cannabinoid products did not produce clinically meaningful treatment-related problems, leading the researchers to conclude that the formulations were well tolerated in healthy dogs at the studied dose.
The study also examined post-market safety information from the NASC Adverse Event Reporting System, or NAERS. According to the paper, data collected from 2010 through part of 2023 showed 2.10 reported adverse events and 0.01 serious adverse events per one million administrations of hemp-derived supplement products sold for dogs. Such surveillance can provide useful information about products used outside a laboratory, although voluntary or company-based reporting systems have limitations, including incomplete reporting and difficulty establishing whether a product caused a particular event.
Those limitations are important. The controlled experiment was relatively small, included only healthy beagles, lasted three months plus a short recovery period, and was not designed to measure therapeutic benefits. It therefore cannot show whether CBD or related cannabinoids improve pain, anxiety, seizures, arthritis, allergies, or other medical conditions. Nor does it prove that every product sold as CBD has the same composition, purity, or dose as the formulations used in the study.
The findings also should not be confused with regulatory approval. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s guidance on cannabis and CBD states that the agency has not approved cannabis for use in animals and cannot assure the safety or effectiveness of cannabis products marketed for pets. FDA has also warned companies over unapproved animal products and unsupported claims that CBD can treat disease.
For pet owners, the practical takeaway is narrower than the original announcement suggested: in this particular study, three cannabinoid formulations were tolerated by healthy dogs at a daily dose of 5 milligrams per kilogram for 90 days. That is evidence about short-term repeated-dose safety under controlled conditions—not a blanket finding that CBD is a proven long-term treatment or that all canine CBD products are safe.
Owners considering a cannabinoid product should discuss it with a veterinarian, particularly if a dog has liver disease, is pregnant, or takes other medications. A veterinarian can help assess whether the product is appropriate, review its ingredients and labeling, and monitor for possible adverse effects.
