Chillin’ Like Cats and Dogs

Cannabis for all creatures great and small.

BY SOFIE BROWN

Salesalwayspick up going into a holiday where reworks are involved,” says Jack Brady of Portland’s Fish & Bone, purveyors of four brands of CBD, CBG, and hemp products o en used to ease anxiety in pets.

As man’s best friends nally get to share the bene ts of Maine’s expanding “Cannabiz,” national CBD sales for pets re ect the trend, jumping from $426 million in 2020 to $629 million in 2021, according to a Bright eld Group study cited in Forbes last May.

Seventy-three percent of owners who gave their pets CBD used CBD themselves, the study said. “I’ve been in the retail pet industry for eight years now, and probably ve years ago is when I was rst exposed to it,” Brady says.

Amanda Howland, co-founder of ElleVet Sciences, a South Portland producer of animal CBD products, says “One of my family members, a human physician doing cancer research in Boston, was very interested in using CBD in humans to address various diseases. at sparked my interest. I started looking for research papers to see what had been done on pets and CBD. ere really were none.”

NEW LEASH ON LIFE

In 2018, Howland, Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, and Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine pioneered a pharmacokinetic clinical trial of the e ects of cannabinoids on osteoarthritis in elderly dogs using ElleVet Sciences’ chews. Some of the dogs were already scheduled for euthanasia due to their poor condition, but 80 percent of the dogs receiving the treatment saw signi cant improvement.

“A er exhausting all of the [conventional] medicine without any real results, I started looking for di erent products,” Brady says. Using CBD, “My cat made a full recovery and is even better than he’s been in years. Now he takes it regularly.”

DO ASK, DON’T TELL

Although many Maine veterinarians list CBD product availability on their websites, no Maine veterinarians contacted commented on their use of CBD, as they are o en restricted in their endorsement of CBD by licensure guidelines; the di erent levels of FDA approval for CBD products; and their own level of familiarity with the developing science.

“Pet owners are driving demand,” says Howland. “ ey go to their vets and ask for product recommendations.”

“Veterinarians aren’t too big on prescribing or recommending it, which is unfortunate,” Brady says. “In my own experience, it’s been nothing but positive.”

“I’m proud of our city and state for having so many animal-focused companies,” says Howland. “I think that’s something Portland is becoming known for. It’s really wonderful when we go to trade shows across the country and say we’re from Portland and people say ‘Oregon?’ And we say ‘No! Maine.’”