Fat cat, fat dogs, fat fatty fat fat.

If the park newbies and their pristine runners are anything to go by, a lot of people over indulged during the christmas break(myself included), and a lot of folk are starting off the new year with good intentions.
Huzzah I say! I applaud anyone with the gumption to get up and do something about their fat instead of eating their body weight in jelly babies and compaining about thyroids and water retaining medicine, (hear that mother!)
I have little or no patience with lardy ass folk who complain about being fat but do nowt to change or alter their lardiness. Conversely I have all the time in the world for lardy ass folk who are just that, lardy and happy with their look. Well done, if you're happy, I'm happy, the world still spins.
Screw it, life is short.
But lately it's not just folk that are getting chunkier. There is a growing number of chunky pets, and now the powers that be are starting to sit up and take notice. Perhaps they smell easy money in the air. Naturally the States are leading the charge.
Observe.
"WASHINGTON - Is your hound round? Too much flab on your Lab? Is your husky, well, husky? A new drug may provide some help. The government approved the first drug for obese canines on Friday. Called Slentrol, the Pfizer Inc. drug is aimed at helping fat Fidos shed extra pounds."
Dog Obesity, it seems is on the rise.
"A dog that weighs 20 percent more than its ideal weight is considered obese. That takes in about 5 percent of the nearly 62 million dogs in the United States. An additional 20 percent to 30 percent are considered overweight
The liquid drug appears to reduce the amount of fat a dog can absorb. It also seems to trigger a feeling of satiety or fullness, according to the FDA.
The prescription drug also can produce some unfortunate side effects, including loose stools, diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy and loss of appetite."

Sigh. I mean sigh, seriously, sigh.
Okay, for the cheap seats at the back, here is a fool proof way to stop your pets becomming obese without the need to subject them to drugs that might be a danger to their health, are you ready...
MAKE THEM EAT LESS AND EXERCISE THEM MORE!
Most dogs by and large will eat just about anything you give them, cheese bread with lashings of butter, chips, curry, pasta, anything at all. That doesn't mean you have to give it to them. You're just killing them with kindness. Dogs, especially as they get older, do much better if they are kept fit and lean. It takes the pressure off their joints and keep their hearts in good nick.
My mother's dog, Bobby Ewing, is a fat bug-eyed spaniel, who snores, wheezes and is rather...farty. He can't walk far because of his tremendous girth and spends a great deal of his time asleep on the end of my mother's bed. He eats what he wants and turns his nose up at 'real' dog food. He has arthritis. Bobby Ewing is eight. He's a gorgeous little chap, playful and good natured, but exhausted and aged from carrying around the extra weight.
No amount of us telling my mother that she is harming her beloved pooch with all the biscuits and crap she feeds him makes the slightest bit of difference. Bobby Ewing turns those bug eyes on her and she give in, immediately, if not sooner.
I can see it now, people will turn to these drugs to 'help' their dog's weight, rather than say, 'well sheet, maybe I should walk him an extra mile every evening.'
It's a quick fix world we live in, always with the quick fix.