Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: February 1, 2023 by Crystal Uys

Harr_Does this Collar Make My Butt Look Big

Dena Harris is not going to endear herself to fat cats everywhere with her latest humor book, Does This Collar Make My Butt Look Big: A Diet Book for Cats, but she will sure make the humans picking up this tongue-in-cheek parody of diet books laugh.

This little book provides weight-loss tips and tricks for “extra fluffy felines” modeled along popular fitness regimes such as The Mayo Clinic Diet (“Vary your water sources. The water dish is so over. Water from the kitchen faucet or toilet should be available on demand.”), The South Beach Diet (“Phase I of this diet involves the complete denial of all foods that make you purr.”), and the “French Women Don’t Get Fat…But Their Cats Do” diet.

With advice ranging from exercises for the comatose cat to mastering your metapurrlism, this book is sure to offer something for every feline desiring to get svelte, with features including

  • an introductory quiz determining what type of diet suits the cat’s purrsonality type
  • raw and living food recommendations, complete with Q&A (Q: Is it really safe to eat raw meat?” A: “Two million feral cats can’t be wrong.”)
  • a list of Superfuds (“whatever’s in the bowl or on your human’s lap”.)
  • tips for continued weight loss success (“Avoid reading “cute kittens” calendars. They’ll just make you feel bad about yourself.”)

Obesity is no joke. More than 50% of America’s cats are overweight. When I first received this book for review, I had mixed feelings about it, because I don’t like the “fats cats are funny” stereotype, and I worry that perpetuating it will only contribute to the obesity epidemic. Despite my misgivings, I found myself chuckling throughout the book. Dena Harris sticks to the typical fad diet book formula, but presents it from a cat’s point of view, and she does this so well, you just can’t help but laugh.

This book was sent to me by the publisher. Receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.

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