Do you need to address all of those extra pounds gained during those fabulous summer vacations? The following chapter is from Mellow Out--Lessons Learned From Household Cats and it will help to put the problem in perspective. More information about the book can be found by clicking here.
Dieting is the only game where you win when you lose.
Karl Lagerfeld
It’s OK To Be Pleasantly Plump
On August 10, 2010, we received a desperate call from my wife’s sister. “Sherry has a problem, and she can’t keep her two cats. I’m driving up to Oregon to get them. Will you take one?”
A few days after that simple request, a black and white medium-haired cat arrived on August 14. Her face was snow white in the area around her mouth and up to her nose. Above that was black fur, and it was difficult to see the two very wide eyes in this area through the fur. It looked like she didn’t have any eyes! She had the strangest face. As for her body, the ribs could be easily felt under her coat of fur. This cat was underweight.
The cat was only eighteen months old, extremely thin and had already had two litters. Her name was Marie, and she did not like to be held, possibly because the daughter of her former owner kept her tied up at night. Fear embraced us. What if she were pregnant? Since we have a huge yard with many cats in the neighborhood, we wondered how long it would take for her to have another litter.
We put her in the spare bedroom, and she was cool and calm. As happened with Mitsy, when we let her out of the room, hissing matches ensued—with both cats now. The next day, I took her to the Humane Society complex that was located on the other side of town. Marie howled as I drove to her appointment. While she howled, I prayed that she wasn’t pregnant. It would be impossible for me to handle a litter of kittens. You should have seen me when my own kids were born. I was a nervous wreck. Strange thoughts raced through my mind. How do you use the Lamaze Method on cats? Can you teach cats how to breathe?
I waited in the lobby while the techs checked out Marie. My prayer was answered. She wasn’t pregnant. We then scheduled another appointment. The next Wednesday I repeated the drive at 6:30 AM and the howls continued as I drove her back to the Humane Society. She was spayed and at 4:30 the howls resumed as we drove home. Three weeks later, we returned for our final appointment. Marie was completely healed, and there were no complications.
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Mellow Out--Lessons Learned From Household Cats is a fun read that explores the influence cats have on our lives. The book delves into twenty areas where their behavior provides a calming effect. Each section begins with a quote that reflects mainstream thinking on the topic. This is followed by comments on how this concept plays out in society, and then, how the cats respond. Finally, there is a discussion on how to use the behaviors of the cats to improve our lives. The broad themes of the book focus on how to take care of ourselves, how to tolerate adversity and how to embrace our emotions. Topics include such things are dealing with getting high, being overweight, love, and brown-nosing at your place of employment.
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Each morning the cats would receive half a can of delicious cat food—mixed grill, turkey and salmon with cheese, etc. I made sure that I bought a variety of flavors, but, in reality, the cats didn’t care. A bowl of dry food would be out for them to eat whenever they were hungry.
The first thing Marie did was to eat more than she could handle and then vomit. This was a recurring pattern. Eat as much and as fast as possible. Eat the leftovers from the other cat dishes. Vomit. By way of explanation, Marie could get away with eating from the other cat dishes because when Samantha hissed, she just ignored her. Of course Mitsy just ran away.
While this was going on, Marie became friendlier. We would turn on the bathroom light, and there she would be, staring at us from inside the laundry basket. Her other favorite place to hide was behind the flat screen TV. We could see only her tail hanging out. We were becoming very endeared to her.
Mitsy and Marie became good friends as they bonded against Samantha, who was larger than both of them. Samantha did not like this new arrangement, and she let everyone know that. As their friendship grew and their relationship with us changed, we ended up calling Mitsy, the Mitzer. In the weeks after the operation, Marie just swelled up and we renamed her Chubby Wubby. She went from 6 pounds, 12 ounces, to 10.15 pounds.
Before anyone gets angry, please note that Chubby is now 9.2 pounds and according to the Pet MD calculator, her weight is perfect. Our love for Chubby continues to grow and she has become my good friend. Every time I go into the kitchen, she jumps up on the counter and snuggles next to me. When I watch TV, she sits on my lap. We love our Chubby Wubby.
Chubby was always calm and cool. It didn’t matter to her what she weighed. In contrast, we humans have a great fear of gaining extra pounds and that fear is exacerbated when we jump on the scale at the doctor’s office. When I left high school, I weighed 155 pounds, and that number kept creeping up. I met my doctor about fourteen years ago. She had just joined my HMO after graduating from medical school. This woman was Vietnamese, very short and very thin. After our first meeting, she started complaining about my weight—diet and exercise, exercise and diet, were her mantra. A year letter, she went on maternity leave, and I knew that I would get my revenge.
Most woman, like Chubby, keep the weight after they had children and I knew that she would come back from maternity leave with lots of extra pounds. I was wrong; she was as skinny as a rail. Over the years, this happened two more times, and in each case, she didn’t gain a pound. Last year I ballooned to 240 pounds. Even I thought that this was bad, so I dieted a bit and now I am almost content at 230 pounds and with a BMI in the obese category. I can’t give up wine, desserts, and pasta.
In reality, I have a family heritage to maintain. My mother was fat, my brother looks pregnant and I am pleasantly plump. Our whole family has been fighting weight issues. Like Chubby, I’m content with my weight, even though I am trying to lose a few more pounds. My cat has helped me to realize that it’s okay to be a bit chubby as long as you are cool about it.