Dr Cath Watson: Should you give your pets Ozempic?

Okava has been investigating the use of GLP-1 receptors in cats and found it has similar effects to weight-loss drugs on humans.

The San Francisco-based company is hoping to develop a long-acting implant as opposed to regular injections.

But, Healthy Pets New Zealand trustee and vet Dr Cath Watson says weight loss drugs should not be the first option for pets. 

Watson told Andrew Dickens that pet obesity levels are "pretty bad and getting worse".

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now here is a question I never thought i'd ever
have to have to pose, or ever have to ask,
would you consider giving your cat ozempic if your cat
is a fat cat? Pet insurance companies are warning that
pet obesity is skyrocketing, and now a San Francisco animal
medicine company says ozempic like drugs can work just as

(00:21):
well on cats as they do on humans. So doctor
Kath Watson is a trustee for Healthy Pets. New Zealand
joins us. Now Halla, Cath, Hi, how are you good?
So if you had a fat cat, would you give
it a zempic.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Or there wouldn't be my first choice. And there's a
bunch of reasons for that, because I don't think it
is the solution to everything, even for humans, and it's
likely to be really expensive, but hey, it's.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Probably coming Okay, Well, they call GLP one drugs. They
work mainly as an appetite suppressant. If we, as cat
owners control how much our cats eat, aren't we the
ones responsible for making them not get fat? Are not
the ones who should be choosing to give them drugs?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah? Absolutely, that should always be the first choice. And
you know, anytime you're dealing with a health issue, you
want to do the best that you can and try
and give the best welfare outcome for your pets. Just
using drugs as certainly a fairly quick shortcuts. So yeah,

(01:28):
absolutely we have full control over their food intake. But hey,
life gets in the way it does for humans, it
does for the way we manage our pets as well,
and sometimes actually things get out of control. So like that,
it's not an option right now, but in the future
it could be. I wouldn't completely rule it out, but
I wouldn't be relying on it either.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, catch it so tricky.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
You may feed them properly, but of course they're mooching
around the neighbors and they're maybe doing their own ratting
and mousing as well, and they'll never say no. But
the nub of the issue is is this how bad
is pet obesity?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Look, I don't have an actual figure for you, but
it's pretty bad and getting worse. I think anything we
see in the human world teams to end up reflected
in our pets. Unfortunately, so b City sits in that category.
We are loving them to be basically, and we are
loving them with food, which is you know, there's way
better ways to love your cat. Spending some time interacting

(02:27):
with them other than feeding them would be a really
good start.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
So if you've got a fat cat. So, if you've
got a fat cat, have you got any tips about
how to get their weight down? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, the first thing is be really aware of how
much food you're giving and the fact that what looks
like a really small amount to you relative to their
body size actually can be quite a lot. So to
understanding the calorie count to start with making sure that
the whole family's on board so that there's not multiple
people feeding them. But when you get that, you know,

(02:59):
when they're bugging you to feed them, or what you
think is bugging you to seed them, try playing with
them instead, like a screwed up piece of paper and
the end a piece of string. It doesn't need to
be something fency and get them playing, get them chasing
and what about what?

Speaker 1 (03:14):
What about what I just said as well, because the
problem is you feed the cat and then the cat
goes merching around the neighbors. I mean, how do you
control the intake of food that is given by your neighbors,
who again are loving your cat to death?

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Well, there's a couple of solutions to that. One would be,
you know, seriously consider containing your cat. There's a bunch
of reasons that that's good for them. It doesn't have
to be keeping them locked up inside. But you can
contain them on your property if it's tensed, using special
fencing that they can't get over. You could build something
like a caddy oh, which is an outdoor contained area

(03:49):
for them. But otherwise, really it's going and talking to
your neighbors and saying hey, if you see my cat,
please don't feed it, and putting a week tag on
their collar to say, you know, I'm overway, please don't
feed me, or just please don't feed me. I have
a home elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Good.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
It's pretty good at telling it otherwise.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Good stuff. Kaith and Keath is the veterinarian Healthy Pets
of New Zealand trustee doctor Keith Watson.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio