'Pupcakes' answer to puppy fat

Credit: Airyfairy Cupcakes

If you’ve ever felt guilty about eating sweets in front of your canine, there may be a healthy solution for your pal.

Laura Draper, owner of Airyfairy cupcakes in Didsbury, Manchester, has come up with a healthy doggy treat she hopes will curb canine obesity in the U.K.

After seeing many dogs pass the store looking forlornly at the cakes, Miss Draper came up with the idea to introduce ‘Pupcakes’ to the store’s repertoire:

“One day I just got chatting about it to a friend and he said it's a shame the dogs couldn't enjoy the cake and I went away and did some research,” she told media in the UK.

“I thought straight away people love to buy their pets treats and it seemed like a gap in the market.”

The vegan ‘Pupcakes’ are made of gluten-free flour, low-fat peanut butter, bananas and low-fat cream cheese frosting - sometimes decorated with Bonio biscuits or doggy chocolate drops also.

In the UK alone, more than one-in-three (35 per cent) dogs are obese, according to pdsa.org.uk, with a large percentage due to overfeeding and snacks.

If the next four years follow this same trend then by 2013 nearly 50 per cent of UK dogs could be overweight.

So far the Pupcakes have been extremely popular with dogs but surprisingly also their owners.

The completely vegan Pupcakes are perhaps a little bland for our human tastebuds, but the idea of sharing with our besties has proved irresistible.

While no store exists yet in Australia, it raises some big issues of our responsibility to our best friend’s well being.

For our pets, obesity is associated with a number of medical complaints including osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, liver disease and insulin resistance.

For more cakes and baking ideas click here

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