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A FAT rat, an oversized moggy that gets stuck in the cat flap and a pack of greedy dogs were unveiled yesterday as the contestants in an annual pet slimming competition.
Between them the 13 obese animals need to lose nearly 12 stone in the PDSA Pet Fit Club.
The tubby creatures include two-year-old white rat Mr T from Neath, south Wales, who is twice his ideal weight. He weighs 2.1lb and needs to halve his size to get to his fighting weight of 1lb.
Benji the five-year-old tom from Dunbar, East Lothian, eats so much he can no longer get through the cat flap and needs to lose 10lb to get back to his ideal weight of 1st 1lb.
Bella the beagle from Wolverhampton weighs in at 3st 11lb – 1st 6lb overweight – with an appetite so huge she once stole an entire Sunday dinner joint of beef.
Between them, the seven dogs, five cats and Mr T weigh 31st 7lb – more than world’s strongest man Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, who plays The Mountain in TV drama Game Of Thrones. They include cat Pepsi Cola from Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancs, and labrador Sadie of Basildon, Essex.
The annual fit club, run by the PDSA, highlights the growing obesity epidemic among the nation’s pets, all too often overindulged with calorie-rich scraps and treats. Up to 50 per cent of dogs and cats are overweight or obese and PDSA vet Olivia Anderson-Nathan described it as “an epidemic”.
She said: “As with humans, carrying excess weight has serious health implications for our four-legged friends. It increases the chances of life-limiting and life-threatening conditions such as arthritis, diabetes and heart diseases.
“With the help of PDSA and Pet Fit Club, these pets and their owners are making the necessary diet, exercise and lifestyle changes to get down to healthier weights.”
Since 2005, Pet Fit Club has helped 79 dogs, 37 cats and eight rabbits lose a total of 71 stone, equal to a grand piano or 160,000 doughnuts. Daily Express Thursday May 31 2018 meat
The only time she runs is if she sees a squirrel