After Atkins, it's Catkins

The Atkins diet has taken the human world by storm but now it has a new target - Britain's growing number of obese pets.

The first Atkins-style diet for cats, nicknamed the "Catkins", has just been launched in Britain and a version for dogs is also on its way from the US.

As with the human Atkins plan, the pet diets advocate low-carbohydrate, highprotein intake, and makers claim they lead to swift weight loss - like Atkins.

However, David Yates, a vet with the RSPCA, said: "You just can't put a cat or dog on the Atkins - their requirements are very different, and it could prove dangerous." Lucy Postins, who invented the Honest Kitchen dog version, said: "We work on exactly the same principle. I think that while dogs do have different needs, they are all met by this diet."

A spokeswoman for Hill's, which makes the cat food, called m/d, said: "This is a medically proven diet. It may have similarities to the Atkins diet but it wasn't designed as a 'Catkins' diet."