In June of last year, the Steve’s Real Food team was sitting in our weekly meeting, and we started to talk about making a goat milk product with added Cannabis. My science brain started turning, thinking of all the great potential and health-improving possibilities that this type of product could have. Quickly to follow, the Veterinary Technician part of my brain remembered those poor “stoned” pets that had been brought in to the emergency clinic that had accidentally eaten some stash of a tasty green leaf plant they had found in a baggie somewhere in the house.
I believe that some people hear the word Cannabis and immediately they think that is it bad and alters the mind causing a “high”. They don’t have enough good information to understand that there are different components to the cannabis plant and that it is possible to get the benefits without the high. When people don’t understand this, they are unfortunately misinformed about its great medicinal potential.
So what exactly is the difference between the psychoactive “high” and the medicinal properties of Cannabis?
Dr. Rob Silver, a veterinarian leading research and public awareness on the medicinal benefits of medical marijuana for pets, makes it really easy to understand. According to him, there are 2 main phytocannabinoid compounds to cannabis. First is tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, which causes psychoactive effects on the mind. The second is known as Cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not alter the mind and has been used to temper the effects of THC.
Knowing that there was a whole new door opening in the medicinal possibilities that Cannabidiol (CBD) could offer pet parents, I couldn’t wait for our new product to reach its final formulation. We worked with Dr. Silver to make sure we fully understood the benefits and dosage of our new CBD product, and after many months, we are now finally ready to announce our new freeze-dry hemp and goat milk yogurt, Cannagurt. It is the first of a new line of products, Enhance, designed to provide supplemental nutrition to support the healing of specific systems.
CannaGurt contains a perfect pairing of ingredients to promote a wide range of health benefits to all pets. Based on documented research and anecdotal evidence, cannabidiol (CBD) has been shown to have potential benefits for behavioral modification, epilepsy, chronic pain, sleep disorders, appetite improvement, nausea, and vomiting. It has potent anti-inflammatory & anti-microbial abilities. There is also ongoing research being done to quantify its ability to help with Cancer pain and for pets undergoing Chemotherapy or Radiation therapy.
Our product contains 3 ingredients: Raw Goat Milk, Hemp Protein, and Hemp Oil – the last of which contains the CBD.
The Hemp protein supplies an added burst of Omega fatty acids for heart health and anti-inflammatory benefits. Pair that with the goat milk yogurt, which contains over 50 nutrients, including vitamins A, C, B1, B12, and E, minerals, enzymes, citric acid, amino acids, fatty acids, and electrolytes, six probiotic strains, and the final ingredient, CBD, and you have a power food with endless healing possibilities.
After the first batch of CannaGurt was produced in November, Steve’s did a feeding trial with it, sending it out to some special pets that we thought could benefit with the aid of the Cannabidiol. We had pets with veterinarians diagnosed health issues such as anxiety, arthritis, seizures, chronic pain, and post-operative surgical pain try the CannaGurt for 1 month. We closely monitored any changes with the pets, and what we heard back from these pet parents was overwhelming – even better than we had initially thought it would be.
Some of the feedback we had:
“Elliot our 10-year-old Bernese mountain dog finished his CannaGurt and I could not have been more pleased with the results. It helped him in many ways, I noticed that he was able to get up from lying down without any struggle and he actually started to show interest in initiating us to play with his favorite ball. In the mornings, he used to be stiff and since on the CannaGurt he wasn’t stiff in the mornings anymore. We finished the feeding trial and within days noticed that he again became less active and had more trouble getting up, can we please have some more CannaGurt?”
“We noticed after only 10 days on the Cannagurt that Gus seemed less stressed and anxious. For the first time ever I was able to cut his nails all by myself, this has NEVER happened, it has always taken 2 of us and he gets so stressed. He was calm and had no issues with his nail trim. We loved what the CannaGurt did for Gus!”
“Since starting the CannaGurt feeding trial with our dog Smokey we noticed that it took only about 5 days before we saw a difference in his movement. He has a large fatty mass on his shoulder that was inhibiting him to move well. We started the CannaGurt and noticed he had more good days with getting around. We also had the mass removed and continued on the CannaGurt after surgery. We feel that it helped him to recover and help with pain as well. We would love to continue on this wonderful product.”
Hearing those amazing responses come back has given us the extra motivational boost to get CannaGurt out there and start helping Enhance the health of pets that can benefit from CannaGurt.
Ask your local retailer about Steve’s CannaGurt, and if they haven’t heard about it, or aren’t carrying it yet, let them know what a benefit this may be for your pet.
We will be announcing the rest of our new Enhance line in the coming days. Stay tuned!
