His owner apparently hadn't noticed that Socrates was getting a little pudgy.As you can see from her face however, the vet's nurse realised straight away.At a whopping 22lb, the black and white heavyweight in Jenny Doig's arms is more than double the size of a normal cat. 
Owner Bill Duncan, 52, had taken Socrates to the vet worried by his lack of get-up-and-go.The verdict, not surprisingly, was that he was simply too fat to move, possibly because of his taste for cheese and onion crisps. Twice a day, regular as clockwork, he had managed to stagger to his paws and miaow for his breakfast and tea. Now however, meals are a little disappointing. Five-year-old Socrates has been chosen as one of nine finalists in Pet Fit Club, the PDSA animal charity's annual diet competition. 
With just 100 days to reach his target weight of 9.9lb, he gets two 50g helpings of prescription diet food a day. That's about half of what he used to eat.'Because he's long-haired I hadn't noticed how big his belly was getting,' said Mr Duncan from North Shields, Tyne and Wear.'When I feed him now, he scoffs it down and looks at me as if to say, "Where's the rest of it?" ' 
A 12ft-high model of the Eiffel Tower made entirely out of chocolate gave busy commuters a glimpse but not a taste of Paris today.The mouthwatering version of the famous landmark attracted hungry-looking glances when it appeared at St Pancras railway station, from which the Eurostar departs for the French capital.But passers-by hoping for a taste were out of luck as the tower was constructed to mark the launch of a new range of Thorntons European city-chic inspired chocolates and will be touring stores throughout the country over the coming weeks.
The Continental City Boxes are themed around either Paris, which features milk chocolates, or Milan, which is for dark chocolate lovers, and are designed to reflect the traditional flavours and style found in each city.The boxes feature five new chocolates, including a gingerbread and hazelnut number called Pain D'Epices, alongside the favourites that consumers will already know from the Continental range.Keith Hurdman, Thorntons' Master Chocolatier, says: 'This is an exciting addition to the incredibly successful Continental range, and is sure to surprise and delight both our existing Continental lovers and those who have not tried it before.
'Our chocolatiers have travelled Europe to bring back the best flavours that it has to offer, and we've used them as the inspiration behind these new chocolates to give our customers that little taste of European luxury.'But chocolate lovers face bitter news as the price of their favourite confectionary looks set to soar.Cocoa prices have hit a 24-year high as the market faces its biggest shortage for 40 years.The price rise has been sparked by poor harvests of cocoa beans on the Ivory Coast, which grows 40 per cent of the world's cocoa.The El Nino weather phenomenon has also hit supplies from Indonesia, the world's third largest producer.
Owner Bill Duncan, 52, had taken Socrates to the vet worried by his lack of get-up-and-go.
With just 100 days to reach his target weight of 9.9lb, he gets two 50g helpings of prescription diet food a day. That's about half of what he used to eat.
