AUDIO SUMMARY
The therapeutic effectiveness of oral cannabidiol in addition to current treatment in cats with osteoarthritis
Oliver Wilkinson, BSc (Hons), BVSc MRCVS1*
1 University of Bristol Veterinary School, United Kingdom
* Corresponding author email: oliver.wilkinson7@gmail.com
Published: 11 Jun 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18849/ve.v9i4.691
In this audio summary, Oliver Wilkinson asks, in cats with osteoarthritis, does the oral supplementation of cannabidiol (CBD) oil, compared to conventional treatment alone, improve treatment outcomes of reducing pain and improving locomotion? Read the full Knowledge Summary here.
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Audio Summary Transcript
My name is Oliver Wilkinson, a final year student at the University of Bristol. I chose the question, ‘In cats with osteoarthritis, does oral supplementation of CBD oil, compared to conventional treatment alone, improve treatment outcomes of reducing pain and improving locomotion?’. This was chosen to follow on from a piece of Knowledge Summary coursework I completed in fourth year, and now I feel this is a very relevant topic currently with the rise of cannabis legalisation in other countries, and the increasing popularity of CBD in the human market in the UK as an alternative.
My research found some peer review studies into the effects of CBD have been done in dogs, however there aren't any in cats that presented data linking CBD with analgesia for osteoarthritis. The two most relevant papers were excluded due to small sample size and subjective results, and a case study with other comorbidities was also using other proven methods of analgesia, making it a poor candidate to assess the effects of CBD.
Whilst I did find as part of my research that there is weak evidence for the effectiveness of CBD in dogs, the conclusion is that more high-quality randomised controlled studies are needed, especially in cats, where very little species-specific research has been done.
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