A Tale of Two Cats

Chris Kjølseth, CEO | Relievet - March 11th 2022

This is a tale of two kitties. Meet Gremlin and Floofy.

They’re two of the most wonderful cats in the world (not that it’s a competition!) but when they came to live with me, they were TERRIFIED.

It’s understandable, when you think about it. You’re taken away from the only place you’ve ever called home (the animal shelter) and then brought home by a giant human to an alien scenery you’ve never seen before.

And, not only that, the giant human also has a giant, sharp-toothed monster that really wants to lick you with a tongue bigger than your face. (I’m talking about my dog, Gravy.)

If it were you, you’d be scared too, even with your sister there by your side.

I did all the right things to get them situated, I kept them in a room by themselves, I gave them time. I pet them and spoke to them and tried to play with them. But my sweet kittens were still scared days later.

That’s when I decided it was time to try something new. Something people don’t often try when bringing cats home or to new environments: CBD for cats.

It worked like a charm. Within an hour, my kittens were exploring like they owned the place, and now I had a new problem: dealing with anything they decided was a good idea to knock off the shelves! But for me, this was a much better problem to have because now my kittens were happy.

I didn’t have to use CBD on them again for a long time. I still occasionally did, just because sometimes I needed taste-testers for new formulations we have, and Gremlin and Floofy have always been my most enthusiastic volunteers when it comes to trying our CBD cat treats.

But then, a new puppy moved in. A standard poodle puppy with no respect for anyone’s personal space. His name is Watson (I did a survey of my customers and they named him.)

Gremlin and Floofy, two of the finest specimens of domestic cats in the world, were not fans of this new, so-called, “puppy.” At 4 months old they thought he was too big, and too obnoxious, and the moment that Watson entered the room, they would exit it. This went on for months, and I thought they’d get used to Watson on their own eventually, but finally, I had enough of my unhappy family. I decided to try CBD oil again.

Because neither of my girls likes CBD squirted in their mouth, I used a new trick one of my customers had told me about: squirt it on their foot and have them lick it off.

My girls looked at me like I was a lunatic after I placed the CBD on their paws. They were mad. Who wouldn’t be mad if someone came up to you and randomly placed oil on your hand? But they weren’t THAT mad and after a little bit, they licked the oil off and a little bit after that, they relaxed. They felt playful. When Watson walked into the room, wagging his tail and prancing and generally taking up too much space, they stayed. Gremlin even walked underneath Watson, tickling him with her tail.

CBD had changed Gremlin and Floofy’s mindset. It made them slightly more open to new experiences. Cats are almost expressionless, but it was clear to me (at least I feel like I understand a bit what my girls are thinking, like all pet parents.)

Luckily, Gremlin and Floofy are healthy, relatively young cats, and and the most serious thing I’ve had to use CBD on with them are related to anxiety. But in my time as the founder of a pet CBD company, I’ve seen it used for much more serious cases. This is a story I recently got sent from one of our customers, who was using CBD for her cat, who sadly had cancer.

(I am sharing this story with her express permission, no words in this email have been changed.)

Thank you for your kind response - I was really happy and surprised to hear from you. It made me feel all the better for choosing Relievet for Pepa in her last days.

I'm so heartbroken to report that on Tuesday March 14 at 10:00 AM, Pepa had her final vet visit (at least this one was a house call) and she is no longer in pain. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and we exhausted all her options. I didn't want to be the one preventing her from being free of the pain she was obviously in, just because I couldn't let go. And man, could I NOT let go.

As I carried her to the vet's car, I realized how frail she felt. She had lost so much weight and wasn't really moving and it got me thinking of all the things she used to do but had been unable to in the last few weeks... months. I can't even fathom it now.

I realized the biggest change I saw in her was when I started giving her the CBD drops. I started small, but it got to the point I was giving her the max dose 2/3 times a day. The gabapentin was wrecking her and I didn't know what to do.

It gave me hope when she started climbing the stairs on her own - slowly but she made it all 8 steps. She would come out of hiding and even try to hop on the bed. She didn't love taking it but the little squirt syringes went down much smoother than her medication, and putting it on her paws REALLY helped until it got to the point she couldn't groom anymore.

I guess, as depressing as this email started to sound, I just want to say thank you. You have a product that really works. And I could feel the love and time you had for Biscuit in every dose I gave to Pepa.

Thank you for making the time she had left bearable, and I will spread the word to my other friends who have their older ladies as companions. For now, I know my Old Lady will go on with Biscuit, wherever they are, I know we did our best. And sometimes, that's all we can do.

Thank you so much, and let me know if there's any way I can repay you. Your emails really helped as well. Keep it up!

My own experiences with CBD for my cats and stories like this keep me going.

I try to be as open to my customers as possible because I think that’s the most important thing I can do to make the best products possible: listen and learn from our customers.

If you ever have any questions about CBD for dogs or cats or CBD in general, I’d love to hear from you.

Contact us

Popular for Cats

cbd for pets quiz

Not sure which product to pick?

Get a personalized product suggestion in less than 60 seconds by answering 5 questions or less.

Take the quiz