I think your example is great for how the messaging of “pick a job you love and you’ll never work a day”/“you can be whatever you want to be” can be quite harmful, I know several people in similar situations with various art/creative degrees.
The only thing I’d add is to consider what a degree will do for you if you can’t work in the field it’s for. E.g if you get a degree in marine biology it may be used to re-train as a teacher or similar, but not much else. Meanwhile a degree in some business subject will probably allow you to apply for most office jobs in general. You may not love it, but it’s a lot easier to have a decent salary and find a hobby than to starve trying to get paid for your hobby.
It feels like this is treating symptoms, however helpful it may seem in the short term.
Obesity in pets is 100% the fault of the owner, although pet food manufacturers don’t make it easy… I have 2 cats whose breed is well known for being commonly overweight but they’re both at their ideal recommended by the vet. It did take effort to find healthier food for them and the correct amount, as well as build up their habits that they get as much as is in their bowl and nothing more regardless of the amount of complaining. It’s the same logic as with humans, count the calories going in and adjust that - except pet food manufacturers don’t often disclose even an estimate.
Outside cats are a divisive topic already though, in those cases it’s arguable whether the owner is solely responsible for it all (due to the decision to let them out) or the other people who also feed the clearly well fed cat a 2nd and 3rd meal because they’re trying to befriend it or it “looks hungry”.
If we could just have a “don’t feed someone else’s pet unless you’re asked to” mentality + people would research good food for their pets as a standard it’d go a long way imo and it seems safer than putting animals on drugs.