CBD and fractures in cats
Crack !!!
Ouch ! Whether it's a road accident, illness, fall, fight, or games, the opportunities to break a bone are numerous for our cat friends. We will discover together the main causes of fractures in felines, how best to care for them, and how CBD (cannabidiol) can help them recover better.
What's a fracture ?
A fracture is a partial or total breakage of a bone. It can even happen that a bone is broken in several places. This breakage can be due to multiple reasons, such as a fall, a shock, fatigue fracture, osteoporosis, etc. The injury may be closed, or open (with tearing of the cat's skin), the bone may even have shifted, with fragments, or not. There is a fracture specific to kittens and young cats: the green wood fracture. Because in these small patients, the skeleton is not yet as strong as in an adult cat. It is therefore rather soft, and breaks like a branch of green wood. Thus, the bone of the kitten or young cat will not break, but it will bend more with bone tears.
Diagnosis
If you think your cat has broken a bone, go to your veterinarian as a matter of urgency. He will ask you all the necessary questions, (circumstances, time of injury, location of pain, etc.), and will proceed with a clinical examination of your animal. After the examination, an X-ray will confirm the diagnosis, pinpoint the exact location of the bone injury, and possibly gather other important information. (Are there other broken bones on the same bone, are there other broken bones, etc.).
Treatment
Once the nature of the injury is well established, the veterinarian will return the fractured bone to its normal anatomical position, manually or surgically. Then the injured part will be immobilized so that the cat's bone can heal and regain its strength. Analgesics may be given to reduce pain. Once the bone is well consolidated, a period of re-education (physical therapy for cats) will allow the cat to regain proper mobility.
CBD and bone healing
CBD (cannabidiol) is a substance belonging to the famous cannabinoids. It is obtained from industrial hemp (Cannabis Sativa). Unlike its cousin, the THC-rich recreational cannabis (Cannabis Indica, illegal), Cannabis Sativa contains almost no THC, less than 0.2%, then 0% in the finished product, which is why the sale of CBD is legal. Cannabidiol (CBD) is recognized for its immense therapeutic potential. In particular, it is used for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties. Here are the results of the latest research on the effects of CBD in patients with fractures.
- Scientists from the University of Jerusalem have shown in a study published in 2015, that cannabidiol improves the biomechanical healing properties in rat fractures.
- Another study also shows that the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) stimulate the enzymes responsible for the cross-linking of collagen, a protein that is very important in the construction of connective tissue.
The conclusion of these 2 studies shows that CBD (Cannabis Sativa) probably participates in the improvement of the biomechanical properties of calluses in bone fractures.