Saved from the pounds: first diet drug for dogs

Is your dog wondering: "Does this collar make me look fat?"

Now there's medical hope: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved the first weight-loss drug for canines. Slentrol, from Pfizer, is a once-a-day liquid medication to curb the appetite of obese canines.

"This is an additional tool in a weight-loss program," said S. Kristina Wahlstrom, a veterinarian and Pfizer's group director for U.S. companion-animal operations.

Excess pounds have become a serious dilemma for dogs, which are considered obese if they are more than 20 percent above their ideal weight, which varies by breed. More than one-third of the 62 million pet dogs in the United States are estimated to be overweight or obese.

But should a flabby Fido be on a diet drug?

People, not dogs, are often the problem behind paunchy pooches, said Kathy Michel, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania veterinary school.

"A lot of dog owners have to recognize that they equate love and affection with sharing food with a pet," she said. "They are concerned that if they don't feed them from the table, they won't love them anymore."

Celebrity dog trainer David Reinecker said that if owners would take time to exercise their pets, the need for doggie diet meds would be scarce.

"This is ridiculous," he said, fresh from a run Friday with client Arnold Schwarzenegger's two dogs. The governor was away in Sacramento being inaugurated.

"Dogs got to run, they have to smell, they have to play," Reinecker said.

And if Slentrol — which comes out in the spring — works in dogs, could it also be effective in humans?

Don't try it, the FDA says. The result could be nausea, headache, abdominal pain and other disagreeable, if not life-threatening, conditions.

Wahlstrom said it might be dangerous for humans to do their own testing. But she allowed that weight loss has become such a craze, they might be tempted.

"With most of the medications for dogs, people are not remotely interested in taking them," she said. "This might be the exception."

But the new drug is only for dogs.

Material from the Chicago Tribune is included in this report.