Pet Obesity Drugs Sales.. Are Getting Larger

Sales of pet obesity drugs grew at over one-and-a-half times the rate of other dispensed veterinary drugs last year according to the online pet medicines dispensary Petmeds.co.uk.

The news comes on the eve of a press conference called by Hill's Pet Nutrition during the European Pet Obesity Epidemic Conference at the Wellcome Collection Centre, which is expected to tell reporters that pet obesity has become a spiralling crisis - now affecting 55% of domestic pets.

Last month during a flurry of 'New Year's Resolution' press releases, a consortium of vets in conjunction with the pet product retailer Pets at Home, warned that most dog owners are in denial about how fat their pets are. A survey, reported by the same group, also found that 40% of vets have identified a weight problem as either a primary cause or a significant factor in a pet's poor health.

Ricky Thomas of Petmeds.co.uk is concerned that his company's increased sales of slimming drugs simply means that obesity problems among our pets are getting worse:

"There has been a significant rise in sales of obesity-related products, but we are concerned that dog owners in particular should try to deal with the root cause of their animals' weight problems rather than try to find a quick-fix solution.

"The main reason for the rise in pet obesity is intrinsically linked to pet owners. As our lives become increasingly busier, [sic] it can be tempting to turn to convenient fatty foods more often, and have less time for exercise. This impacts heavily on our pets' lives, as we find less time to exercise them and start overfeeding them."

Pharmaceuticals company Pfizer has just received approval for the UK veterinary use of the pet slimming drug Slentrol for the management of obesity in dogs. Slentrol became available by veterinary prescription in the US back in June 2007. Last month Pfizer reported an annual growth in sales of its animal health products for 2007 of 14%, (to £1.3 billion).