CBD dosage for cats: why cats are dosed lower and what the feline studies found

Cats are not small dogs. They absorb CBD differently, they clear some compounds more slowly, and the feline studies are fewer and newer than the canine ones. This page covers what those studies measured, why a conservative serving range makes sense, and what to watch for. The calculator on this page is a serving-size helper; it is general information, not personalized guidance, and your veterinarian should know about anything you give your cat.

What did the feline CBD studies measure?

The 2019 Cornell study is the only one to dose dogs and cats side by side, and the difference in absorption is the headline. At the same 2 mg/kg oral dose, cats reached a peak concentration about one-seventh of the dogs' (Deabold et al., 2019). The cats also showed two behaviors far more often than dogs: licking in 35.4% of observation periods (476 of 1,344) and head shaking in 25.2%, which the authors attributed to the taste and texture of the oil rather than to the cannabinoid. Blood counts and chemistry over 12 weeks were described as not detrimental.

The 26-week study, run by a pet-food manufacturer's research institute, fed 10 cats 4 mg/kg of a THC-free CBD distillate daily and 10 cats placebo, with checks at weeks 4, 10, 18 and 26 and a 4-week washout. Plasma CBD peaked about 2 hours after dosing, and mean peak levels rose from 251 ng/mL on day 0 to 431 ng/mL after two weeks of daily dosing, showing accumulation (Coltherd et al., 2024). Three cats were removed by week 10; in the parallel 4-week study, 2 CBD cats were removed after elevated ALT. In the full 26-week group ALT stayed statistically equivalent to placebo, and the authors concluded 4 mg/kg was "well tolerated when supplemented over 26 weeks," while advising caution for cats with a history of liver findings.

The escalation study is the ceiling. Twenty healthy cats received up to 11 escalating oral doses at least 3 days apart, reaching a maximum of 30.5 mg/kg of CBD in the CBD-only oil (Kulpa et al., 2021). Adverse events within 24 hours were mostly constitutional (29.9%) and gastrointestinal (27.6%), with hypersalivation, vomiting, lethargy and low body temperature the most frequent; 89 of 90 vomiting and diarrhea events occurred with formulations in medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, including the MCT placebo, which points at the carrier rather than the CBD. Ataxia was recorded 3 times with CBD oil versus 24 times with THC oil and 33 with the CBD/THC blend.

Why are cats dosed more conservatively than dogs?

Glucuronidation is one of the liver's main routes for attaching a sugar to a compound so the kidneys can remove it. A 2013 review of feline drug metabolism documents that the feline UGT1A6 gene carries multiple mutations in every cat tested, making it a pseudogene, and that the defect mainly affects compounds with simple planar phenol structures. Its conclusion is direct: "Cats are deficient in a number of drug conjugation pathways" (Court, 2013). Propofol, which other species glucuronidate, has a half-life of 8.8 hours in cats versus 2.4 in dogs and 1.9 in humans.

CBD's own metabolic route in cats has not been mapped at that level of detail, so the glucuronidation point is a reason for caution rather than a measured CBD-specific effect. What has been measured is the mismatch between a low peak after a single dose (Deabold et al., 2019) and clear accumulation after two weeks of daily dosing (Coltherd et al., 2024). A serving that looks like nothing on day one may be a different serving by day fourteen. That is the case for starting low, stepping up slowly, and not judging a serving in the first week.

How much is that for a cat of a given weight?

Weight band	Kilograms	Low (0.25 mg/kg)	Mid (0.5 mg/kg)	High (1 mg/kg)
Under 6 lb	under 2.7 kg	under 0.7 mg	under 1.4 mg	under 2.7 mg
6 to 9 lb	2.7 to 4.1 kg	0.7 to 1 mg	1.4 to 2 mg	2.7 to 4.1 mg
10 to 13 lb	4.5 to 5.9 kg	1.1 to 1.5 mg	2.3 to 3 mg	4.5 to 5.9 mg
14 to 18 lb	6.4 to 8.2 kg	1.6 to 2 mg	3.2 to 4.1 mg	6.4 to 8.2 mg
Over 18 lb	over 8.2 kg	2 mg and up	4.1 mg and up	8.2 mg and up

These are arithmetic fractions of the study doses, not doses any study tested on their own, and every published feline study dosed higher (2 mg/kg twice daily, 4 mg/kg daily, or escalating to 30.5 mg/kg) (Deabold et al., 2019; Coltherd et al., 2024; Kulpa et al., 2021). The table is conservative on purpose: small animals, slow conjugation, and documented accumulation argue for starting at the low column and holding each step for at least 4 days before moving right.

Milligrams this small need a low-concentration product. A 300 mg bottle in 30 mL is 10 mg/mL, so a 10 lb cat at the 0.5 mg/kg midpoint (2.3 mg) gets about 0.23 mL; a 1000 mg dog tincture at 33.3 mg/mL would need 0.07 mL, which no dropper measures reliably. Pick a product whose certificate of analysis shows THC non-detect and whose mg per mL lets you measure a quarter-dropper or more. Given the licking and head-shaking seen in cats dosed by syringe with oil (Deabold et al., 2019), mixing the serving into a small amount of wet food is a reasonable way to deliver it.

What signs mean stop and call a veterinarian?

FDA's own list of signs reported in pets after cannabis exposure includes lethargy, heavy drooling, vomiting, agitation and tremors, and the agency states that "FDA has not approved cannabis for any use in animals" (FDA). ASPCA Animal Poison Control names delta-9-THC as the toxic principle in marijuana for cats and lists incoordination, sleepiness or excitation, hypersalivation, dilated pupils and low body temperature among the signs (ASPCA). The THC-containing oils in the feline escalation study produced ataxia and protrusion of the third eyelid far more often than CBD oil did (Kulpa et al., 2021); keep any THC product away from cats.

Liver values are the lab signal to discuss. The 26-week study removed 2 cats for elevated ALT in its 4-week arm and advised veterinary checks for cats with a history of liver findings (Coltherd et al., 2024). AVMA's summary is that the evidence for cannabis-derived products in animals is limited and that "State laws legalizing marijuana or hemp use in people do not apply to such use in animals" (AVMA). Tell your veterinarian before you start, bring the certificate of analysis, and ask whether baseline blood work is worth running for your cat.

This page is general information, not personalized guidance. FDA has not evaluated these statements.