Monday 1 December 2014

Book ~ "Does This Collar Make My Butt Look Big? A Diet Book for Cats" (2013) Dena Harris

From Goodreads ~ This diet-guide parody shows "extra furry" cats how to get svelte with kitty-specific versions of popular weight-loss and fitness regimes like the Zone, South Beach, Mayo Clinic, and French Women Don't Get Fat (But Their Cats Do). 

Americans own more than 86 million cats and the wild popularity of cat videos - from YouTube to the Internet Cat Video Film Festival - proves that cat-lovers can't get enough kitty humor. This book pokes fun at tubby tabbies - the world's cutest (and surliest) fat creatures - with laugh-out-loud details that will tickle the funnybone of anyone "owned" by a cat. 

Lampooning trendy weight-loss regimes and health gurus, this book will also make people feel better about their own battle of the bulge in comparison to cats' insatiable appetites and lazy lifestyles. By eating right for their blood type, sourcing raw and living foods, joining Weight Stalkers, avoiding toxic treats, and exercising while lying down, felines of every shape (round) and size (round) will soon be motivated to ditch the fifth serving of Beef Morsels in Gravy for fresh, local options like that vole in the backyard.

This book is directed to the less than svelte kitty.  It starts with an introduction of taking stock of where your kitty is now (whether he is plump, stocky, obese or big boned) followed by a review of the feline food pyramid. 

Then comes the quiz with 20 questions to determine what kind of a dieter your cat is ... comatose, OCD, ADD, chronic dieter or combination.  Recommended diets are then suggested for each kind of dieter include the South Beach Diet, Eat Right for Your Blood Type, Catty Craig, Weight Stalkers and more.  For example, Weight Stalkers is for your kitty if their goal is a healthy relationship with food instead of the meaningless one-night stands with rotisserie chicken they have been having  It's not for your kitty if they don't like dealing with paid consultants whose job it is to be thinner and prettier than your kitty in hopes of luring them into buying two-for-one frozen mouse meal delivery packages.

Through the book, there are helpful hints and information such as the three simple ways to cut calories:
  1. Eat less.  (Ha ha - kidding!)
  2. Break food ito small pieces - crumbs don't have calories
  3. Eat with a friend.  If you both eat the same amount, the calories each other out.

There is a bonus section in the back for cat owners on putting a cat on a diet in 21 easy steps and an "Ask Flabby Tabby" advice section.

Written with sarcasm and humour, it's a fun read!

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