Dog anti-obesity drug launched

[ChrisH]

This caught my eye not only because Bob and I have the same sort of problem (not by eating fast food & beer though :D ) but that the featured dog in the video is a Springer.

The first weight loss drug for dogs in the UK has been launched.

Yarvitan is used as part of an eight-week treatment programme, during which time manufacturers say it can help dogs shed 8-10% of their weight.

Vet Grant Petrie said obesity was a problem for between 20-40% of the domestic canine population. He added: "If owners knew that obese dogs die up to two years earlier than lean weight dogs, it would get people to sit up and think."

Unnecessary suffering

Mr Petrie said the most common reasons why they became overweight were lack of exercise and inappropriate feeding.

Yarvitan works by tying up fat molecules with in the lining of the bowel. This prevents fat from being absorbed into the bloodstream.

In January, brothers David and Derek Benton from Cambridgeshire were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering after allowing their labrador Rusty to soar to more than 11 stone.


video, right hand side of page.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6406719.stm

[lizbud]

I'm sorry Chris, but I didn't find it on the page. My Lab/mix Maggie has
an ongoing battle with her weight & she can relate. :)


p.s. Can't believe the BBC is also carrying stories on Anna Nicole Smith too. :rolleyes:

[ChrisH]

Thanks for telling me Liz. I found the story, complete with said video, on another page.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6406719.stm
I'll also changed the thread heading.

[lizbud]

I remember Rusty. His story was shared on PT before. I think a lot of
people were upset that the dog was returned to his owners. I enjoyed
reading about the other dogs stories as well. Having an overweight pet
is serious business. Calls for more "tough love" on my part I guess. :)

[Catlady711]

In the US soon a similar, or possibly the same drug (I didn't read the link) is going to be released by I believe Phizer.

My boss is complaining because he's already receiving literature from the company advertising it and the product hasn't even come out on the US market yet! The boss is always leary of being the first to jump on the bandwagon of any new drug (case and point Proheart 6), and tends to wait a year or more to see if any undetected problems arise and the product works before he will start using it.