There is a cat somewhere in the world that doesn’t know it has just become history. In December 2024, the first feline participant in the MEOW-1 trial received a small subdermal implant — almost the size of a chip — that releases a medication to control its weight over six months. It is the first clinical weight-loss trial with GLP-1 drugs aimed at pets, and it was developed by OKAVA Pharmaceuticals, a company based in San Francisco.
The medication is called OKV-119 and works similarly to human Ozempic: it regulates appetite, increases the feeling of fullness, and curbs food anxiety. The difference is that instead of weekly injections, the implant works on its own, without your cat having to go through anything else. In a previous test with five cats over 84 days, four of them lost more than 5% of their body weight. The MEOW-1 trial will evaluate up to 50 cats over 12 weeks. If the results are positive, OKAVA plans to seek FDA approval within 18 to 24 months.
And the reason this matters is enormous: it is estimated that more than half of the world’s domestic cats are overweight. Those extra pounds are not just aesthetic — they can lead to diabetes, osteoarthritis, and kidney disease. If your cat is a little round, there may soon be a solution as small as a chip to help it. 🐱