ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - Obese Pets Forced To Fight Flab For Charity

And another thread :laugh:

Quote:

A charity has organised a weight-loss contest for obese pets to highlight the plight of household animals who are overfed.

Run by animal charity PDSA, Pet Fit Club features 11 dogs, five cats and two rabbits carrying a combined excess weight of more than 24 stone, the equivalent of 380 tins of dog food.

Owners will be advised on how to encourage their pets to change their eating habits to get into shape and live a healthy lifestyle.

Specialist vets will provide them with balanced diet and exercise plans during the course of the six-month battle against the bulge.

In the running this year is Fifi, a Bradford-based cat, who was in a malnourished state when she was found as a kitten.

She now weighs more than twice her ideal body weight at 9.3kg.

Her owner Monica Bottomley said: "Probably as a result of her hard start in life, Fifi tends to gorge herself at any opportunity and steals food right from people's plates given the slightest opportunity."

She added: "We entered Fifi into Pet Fit Club as we've tried everything and we don't know what else to do.

"We're desperate to get her to a healthier weight, but we know it must be done slowly as it can be dangerous for cats to lose weight too quickly."

Fifi faces competition from a Wakefield rabbit named Samantha, who weighs more than an average cat; a roast dinner-loving Labrador from Tamworth, who was too heavy to have an X-ray; and a border collie from the Wirral, whose excess pounds exacerbate his arthritis.

According to the PDSA, 2.9 million dogs and three million cats in the UK are overweight.

Some 84% of owners are content with their pet's physique. while 90% admit to feeding their animals cheese, crisps, cakes, biscuits and takeaways.

Sean Wensley, PDSA senior veterinary surgeon, said: "Excess pounds can contribute to a number of serious health conditions and, sadly, it does reduce life expectancy.

"The good news is that it's never too late to make positive changes to a pet's diet and lifestyle."

The winner of the competition will be announced in September, with the owner receiving a year's worth of pet food, and a pet-friendly holiday at the Four Seasons hotel in Perthshire.

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