We’re spending more on medication for pets
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It’s a relief to know that, in this age of obesity among Americans, a new diet drug has emerged ... for dogs. Yes, we are spending more and more on medication for pets. Newsweek reports:
Next month this will change when Slentrol, the first diet drug for dogs, hits the market. Developed by Pfizer and approved by the Food and Drug Administration late last year, Slentrol suppresses a dog’s appetite and limits fat absorption. ... Pfizer believes the owners of at least 17 million dogs will be willing to try Slentrol. That could be a conservative bet: about one third of the 74 million dogs in the United States are overweight (5 percent are obese). And, increasingly, Americans are willing to open their wallets for Fluffy and friends, spending nearly $40 billion on their pets last year, double what they did in 1994. ...
The FDA has approved more than two dozen new drugs for pets since 2002 alone. Along with Slentrol, Pfizer has a drug to treat motion sickness in dogs that’s due out in August. Eli Lilly just launched a new companion-animal division, and plans to develop six drugs in the next four years, in part by reconstituting drugs developed for humans, targeting not physical but psychological ailments.
Some experts caution that today’s pets simply spend too much time in the home, sleeping and being slugs and what they really need is a good run through the meadow, chasing sheep.