Having a "dog's life" nowadays could turn out to be anyone's dream: no work, food at will, and from time to time your owner taking you to some sex party...

That's life ...

But that "lifestyle" has affected our pets. "About 35 % of US dogs and cats are considered to be overweight or obese, a statistic mirrored in Australia and Europe," warned officials from Perth-based Australian Stirling biotech company.

And the traditional concept that pets resemble their owners are not really true. "It often ties into the owner's lifestyle. We see some really active people, who run around all day and don't have time for their pets," said Alex Melrose, an Auckland vet.

Obese or overweight pets experience the same conditions as their human counterparts, such as heart, circulatory, liver and kidney diseases, locomotory problems, reproductive disorders and diabetes.

Their rehabilitation needs the same measures as humans do: less food and more exercise.

Stirling is currently developing a drug for weight loss in animal, who has passed successfully its first testings. The drug, called R-salbutamol, has been checked on 15 beagles in the US, and induced a 3 % weight loss in those animals. "It's early days in the drug's development," said Stirling's chief executive and managing director, Dr Calvin London.

"But taking R-salbutamol to market was a "high priority" for the company. Phase one established an initial dose range that was considered safe to administer to dogs without any clinical side-effects and the second phase tested both high and low- dose options in reducing the weight of overweight dogs. While it is early days, these results are extremely encouraging and we know we can enhance the effectiveness of R-salbutamol even further with revised formulations in studies."

The more extensive trials made in the US, as part of the second testing phase, proved successful; in two years, Stirling will ask for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. R-salbutamol will enter a market of anti-obesity drugs estimated at over US$200 million only in the United States.