// Seregraf / Depositphotos; Novo Nordisk
More than half of companion cats worldwide are overweight, experts estimate. Soon, these plump felines may be treated with a drug similar to Ozempic.
Veterinary pharmaceutical company OKAVA Pharmaceuticals announced earlier this month, in , that it has already begun its first clinical trial to test the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of its pharmacological implant .
The announcement brings some hope to many cat owners who have had difficulty giving their pets a new one. healthy weight. Overweight or obese cats face a higher risk of osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular problems.
Often caused by the so-called “discretionary food”, when the cat has a food bowl always full and can eat at any time of the day, feline obesity can be difficult to treatespecially because weight loss has to be done in a slow and controlled wayto avoid other serious health problems, such as hepatic lipidosis.
“A calorie restriction, or fastingis one of the best-established interventions to extend life expectancy and improve metabolic health in cats, but It is also one of the most difficult to maintain”, says the CEO of the pharmaceutical company, Michael Klotsmannot communicated.
OKAVA’s drug is designed to be administered through an implant placed under the skin, which releases the medicine slowly in the animal’s body for up to six months — which sounds a lot better than trying to give your cat pills every day.
Like the human weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, OKAVA’s medicine is a GLP-1 receptor agonistwhich mimics the action of natural satiety hormones and regulates blood glucose levels, explains Science Alert.
“The OKV-119 was designed to mimic many of the physiological effects of fasting – better insulin sensitivity, reduced fat mass and more efficient energy metabolism – without requiring significant changes to routines of food, nor disrupt the relationship between humans and animals, which often revolves around food”, explained Klotsman.
But, taking into account that until now only one cat received the drug within the scope of clinical trials, we are still far from knowing whether the OKV-119 will be a suitable option for our chubbier felines.
System security had already been tested on healthy cats in previous laboratory studies. In the new trial, researchers will closely monitor the animals for 12 weeks, with the aim of understanding how effective the implant is in returning obese cats to a weight considered healthy.
Until then, experts recommend store dry food out of reach of cats outside meal times and look for ways to get them to “hunt” the food itself, using environmental enrichment toys.
