Frosty Paws Dog Treats Article

Last year, a friend called to tell me that her closest companion had died. Gulping back tears, she said she blamed herself for Julie's death because she had encouraged the indulgent lifestyle that led to her heart failure. And in many ways she was right.

As domestic animals' roles have assumed more importance in our lives, so their health has declined. Such is the attention being lavished on the cats, dogs and even rabbits of this country that they now have the fastest growing waistlines in Europe, a statistic that has lead experts to warn that we literally risk killing them with kindness. America's National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a government body, has just published a 450- page document investigating the problem of pet obesity which, it claims, has reached epidemic proportions on both sides of the Atlantic. Twenty- five per cent of dogs and cats are overweight in Western society, says Donald Beitz, chairman of the NAS subcommittee that produced the report. Here, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) has established a branch of specialised pet physiotherapists (yes, really) to treat the burgeoning problem of the 74 per cent of pets they see that are under- exercised and overfed.

Urban living and 24/7 schedules are partly to blame. While food and home comforts are readily available, pets are given little opportunity (or space) for exercise, and walkies with their time- crunched owners are often a distant memory. But experts believe there are deeper social issues at play.

Over the past 30 years, Britain's famously fond relationship with its pets has changed greatly, says Philip Hodson of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. The family pet has become a substitute for whatever is missing in our lives, be it partner, social life or child, and we have started loving them in what Mr Hodson believes is an entirely unnatural way. "Somewhere along the line we have let go of the species distinction that used to exist and have tried to humanise them," he says. "We endow a dog or cat with the qualities we want from them. We believe they really do adore us when all that is important to them is food and exercise. We use pets to raise our self-esteem, to free parts of our personality we are uncomfortable with. Taken to the extreme, this kind of pet- human relationship is a kind of illness."

It is still mostly women who buy and care for pets, but the phenomenon is certainly not gender specific. When the advertising company Euro RSCG Worldwide conducted a pampered pet study recently, they found it common for childless couples to refer to themselves as "Mummy and Daddy" and to their pets as babies. "People are seeing pets very much as equal members of a family or relationship," says Marian Salzman, chief strategy officer for Euro RSCG Worldwide. "What came back is that pets can be a more fulfilling child - a child that loves you without consequences and doesn't talk back, doesn't care if you've had a bad hair day and doesn't care if you get fat."

Whiskas, the cat food manufacturer, has come up with a name for today's pet parents: the Kitty (Kids in Ten to Twenty Years) generation. They are independent and professional people who want to lavish their attention and disposable income on someone who won't leave them financially and emotionally drained.

One highly successful couple I know pay monthly bills of almost pounds 600 on dog-sitting and walking services for their two pedigree pooches. They are in their early forties and resigned to the fact they will never have children, so justify the expense by calculating what they are saving compared with the cost of a nanny.

Lucy Caborn, a 32-year-old marketing executive from Birmingham, says she bought a kitten to help her cope with the end of a long relationship. "When my boyfriend moved out I was rattling around our house on my own," she says. "A friend suggested I get a cat for company and Floss became the focus of my life. She now has her own bedroom, an entirely organic diet and I recently spent pounds 700 on a bowel operation for her. At the start she was definitely a love substitute, but now I have a new boyfriend and I couldn't live without her. He thinks it is all a bit strange, but she helped me through the most difficult phase of my life so far and I'm not going to forget that."

Even our choice of pets reflects the desire for low maintenance affection. Independent cats ( million) have overtaken dependent dogs ( million) as the nation's preferred pet. Larger dogs such as labradors and collies, once the British favourites, are out of fashion. Indeed, small breeds that require less exercise now make up one third of the UK's dogs. These are particularly beloved of the single celeb - Geri Halliwell has her shih-tzu; Amanda Holden her two scotties; Tamara Beckwith a lap dog. They are living comfort blankets that are barely more cumbersome to carry around than a handbag.

Professor Andy Aylesworth, a researcher in marketing at Bentley College in Massachusetts who has been studying our increasingly bizarre relationship with pets, believes our desire to over-indulge them is an inevitable result of this. "Pet owners now see pets as an extension of themselves," he says. "Buying stuff for them makes the person feel good, just as buying something for a child makes a parent feel good. When people are so busy and unable to spend as much time with their pet as they would like to, they feel guilty. Buying stuff alleviates some of that guilt."

Our appetite for ever more extravagant varieties of pet food sees new brands and niche products coming on to the market every month. The latest are nutrient specific pet meals produced for different life stages; you can now buy diet plans targeted at the owners of puppies or kittens, pregnant or geriatric cats and dogs. Most are carefully formulated to provide the precise calorie and vitamin requirements for the average-sized cat or dog in one serving. In theory, stick to the recommended daily intake and they shouldn't get fat. Yet statistics from the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association show that these ready meals account for only 60 per cent of the food consumed by the cat and dog population. The remainder comes from the fastest growing sector of the market: treats and titbits, the little extras we feed our pets to tempt them into displaying their affection towards us. Chews, commercially produced marrow bones, choc drops and organic crunchy biscuits.

And, soon, ice-cream. Canine birthday parties are a huge business in America and what better to serve at them than Nestle Frosty Paws, a whey- and soya- based ice-cream for dogs in single-serving cups that looks like vanilla but tastes dog-liciously salty. It is distributed by almost two-thirds of US supermarkets and sales there are increasing 10 per cent per year. Soon it could be available here, says Nestle UK.

Already, the CSP says its pet physios are fighting a losing battle. Like humans, porky animals are at more risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and joint problems. They suffer breathing problems, cardiovascular irregularities and any number of other life- threatening complaints most commonly associated with fat people.

So how fat is too fat? According to the NAS guidelines, you can tell if a dog is overweight by checking to see if you can feel its ribs. If you can't or if its waist isn't easily noted, or if there is a layer of fat on the base of its tail, then it is too heavy. If a cat looks overweight, it usually is. Decrease calories and gently re- introduce exercise. "Don't think you are being kind by giving them an easy life," says Charlotte Baldwyn, a spokesperson for the CSP who also runs the Physio4animals practice in Bray, Berkshire. "If you love your pet, you'll keep them in shape."