Ozempic for cats? GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are coming for your fat pet
A beautiful but overweight Maine Coon Cat is measured around the belly by a veterinarian.
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Felix is five years old, loves food and refuses to lose weight.
Her owner, Amy, in Dallas, has tried cutting back on meals, but with two cats at home, she said, “she’s gobbling up all the food.” Excess weight worries her because she knows obesity can shorten a cat’s lifespan and put a strain on its joints and heart.
“I’ve actually thought about it,” he said of the potential of weight-loss medications for pets. “It would be great if they could make one for my cat.”
It may sound far-fetched, but the idea is already moving from wishful thinking to veterinary research. Two US biotech companies are testing experimental GLP-1 weight loss treatments for overweight cats; This is one of the first attempts to bring the blockbuster drug class to pet medications.
Meanwhile, some of the world’s largest pet food manufacturers are investing heavily in nutritional and longevity products that target many of the same health concerns.
Ozempic for cats?
Pioneered by the GLP-1 explosion Novo Nordisk And Eli Lilly It has reshaped the way millions of people think about obesity, diabetes and food. Now the same class of drugs is expanding into a new market: pets.
Akston Biosciences is sponsoring a Cornell University clinical trial of once-weekly GLP-1 therapy for overweight and obese cats, while San Francisco-based OKAVA Pharmaceuticals has begun testing a long-acting implant designed to deliver the drug continuously for up to six months.
Neither product is approved and there is currently no commercial “Ozempic for Cats” available. Both remain in early-stage clinical trials that need to show they are safe and effective before reaching veterinarians.
Research points to a broader shift in pet care already underway. As owners spend more on premium foods, supplements, diagnostics and veterinary treatments, it creates new opportunities for biotechnology as well as traditional pet food companies.
According to the Association for the Prevention of Pet Obesity, 61% of cats and 59% of dogs evaluated by U.S. veterinary professionals in 2022 were classified as overweight or obese; This underscores the magnitude of a problem that veterinarians have long been familiar with.
Cats present a particularly tough challenge. Unlike dogs, they cannot be taken on longer walks, are often resistant to dietary changes, and can be difficult to medicate consistently, making GLP-1 treatments potentially attractive if clinical trials prove successful.
Owner Amy says cat Felix is having trouble losing weight.
“Feline obesity is one of the most common but least effectively treated health problems in veterinary medicine,” Akston CEO Todd Zion said in November as the company announced a clinical trial of GLP-1 for pets.
The trial, sponsored by Akston and conducted by Cornell University, will evaluate approximately 70 overweight or obese cats over the course of approximately three months. OKAVA’s study, in a trial called “MEOW-1,” is testing an implant inserted by a veterinarian and designed to deliver drug release for up to six months.
An Okava spokesperson told CNBC that pet obesity is one of the top unmet medical needs in pet health in terms of commercial opportunity, but said it was too early to comment on future sales prospects.
Both companies believe drugs modeled on human GLP-1 drugs could help regulate appetite in pets, and topline results from their clinical trials are expected to be published later this year.
From premium pet food to medical care
It remains unclear whether GLP-1 drugs will eventually become commonplace in veterinary medicine. But industry analysts say they are already adapting to a much larger transformation that is reshaping the $200 billion U.S. pet economy.
“I would describe this as an expansion from premiumization to medicalization, rather than owners abandoning premium food,” Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman told CNBC via email.
Consumers are increasingly buying pet foods marketed around healthier and fresher ingredients and therapeutic nutrition, he said, while veterinary care, diagnostics and pharmacy services are taking up a growing share of household pet spending.
Total pet spending in the U.S. is expected to grow from about $196 billion in 2025 to more than $240 billion by 2030, with Morgan Stanley predicting that total pet food purchases in the U.S. will be approximately $65 billion in 2026.
Rather than replacing specialized diets, obesity drugs could become another tool within a broader health ecosystem that includes veterinary care, diagnostics and therapeutic nutrition.
Gutman cautioned that investors should not assume that pet GLP-1 will reflect the explosive commercial success of obesity drugs in humans.
“The most overrated part is the assumption that pet obesity drugs will replicate the human GLP-1 market in terms of penetration and pricing,” he said, noting that veterinary drugs remain largely an out-of-pocket expense for owners and affordability will likely constrain uptake.
Instead, he said, the more believable short-term scenario is that growth will come from the broader obesity ecosystem, including structured weight management programs, prescription diets and treatment of obesity-related conditions, and that a standalone GLP-1 market for pets will likely take longer to emerge.
Food companies are already moving
The biggest players in the industry are not waiting for obesity drugs to arrive.
Nestlé’s Its latest pet products strategy focuses on what it calls “Personalized Wellness,” with new products targeting digestive health, healthy aging and longevity. The strategy illustrates how major pet food companies increasingly view nutrition as part of preventive health care rather than just feeding pets.
Nestlé highlighted several long-term trends supporting this strategy, including cat ownership growing nearly three times faster than dog ownership in recent years and premium cat food outpacing the growth of premium dog food.
Gutman said cats, in particular, are becoming a more attractive growth opportunity as younger consumers turn to lower-cost and lower-maintenance pets. While dogs remain the larger spending category, “cats represent an attractive white space opportunity rather than a larger market,” he added.
Nestlé also says its new nutritional products could extend healthy lifespan in cats by more than a year.
Purina cat food products, manufactured by Nestle SA, were held on Monday, July 26, 2021, in London, United Kingdom. Nestle announces its half-year results on July 29. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Meanwhile, the global pet supplements and nutrition market is estimated to be worth several billion dollars and continues to grow rapidly as owners look for proactive ways to improve their pets’ health.
Gutman said longevity is becoming the industry’s next major theme.
“We think the industry is increasingly focused on extending healthy life through earlier diagnosis, high-value treatments and therapeutic nutrition,” he said. “Longevity will likely become an overarching theme that ties these categories together.”
This convergence is bringing together businesses that once occupied different corners of the market, from consumer staples companies selling food to biotech firms developing drugs to veterinarians providing increasingly complex care.
Including animal health companies zoetia, elanco And IDEXX While Nestlé Purina is positioned to provide benefits through treatment and diagnosis, Colgate-Palmolive subsidiary Hill’s and fresh animal Gutman said they are expanding health-focused nutrition. online retailer chewable It has been expanded to include pharmacy subscriptions and veterinary clinics.
Will owners embrace this?
Whether owners will pay for obesity drugs may ultimately depend more on price than science.
For Felix’s owner, Amy, cost would be the deciding factor and would need to be much cheaper than human GLP-1 drugs. “It should be affordable.”
This question of affordability could determine whether GLP-1s will become mainstream veterinary therapy or remain a niche option for some owners.
For now, the technology remains strictly in the experimental stage. But the emergence of multiple feline clinical studies shows that one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most potent classes of drugs is beginning to enter the veterinary field; Even as established pet food companies race to convince owners that healthier diets, supplements and longevity-focused nutrition can provide many of the same benefits before prescription drugs reach the market.
