A fat pill for Fido

You noticed but didn't want to say anything -- the extra set of jowls, the huffing after a flight of stairs, the trouble fitting its fanny through the dog-house door. Fido is getting fat, and so are 17 million other American dogs.

Now pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is applying a quintessential American solution to the problem with its introduction of Slentrol. The prescription drug suppresses a dog's appetite and blocks fat from being absorbed from those chicken nuggets his owner sneaks him in the backseat or the Combos tossed from the couch.

The answer for a chubby canine, of course, couldn't be as simple as picking up the leash and walking the poor thing more. It couldn't be as logical as reducing the human-sized servings plopped in his dish three times a day. No, the only thing to do with a fat pooch is medicate him.

Dogs, like small children, do not have the ability to drive to the supermarket and load a cart with Tater Tots and cinnamon buns. What they eat is purely a product of what they are presented with, and in what amounts and how often.

And while the familiar saying about sleeping dogs implies that they like to lie around, the truth is just the opposite. It's not that Rover is bored with running, fetching or catching, it's that his sedentary owner doesn't give him the chance to.

Before we pop him a pill (which, by the way, has side effects of vomiting, diarrhea and even doggie anorexia), let's take our pup for a walk around the block or a dash around the yard. He might not be the only one to benefit.