My Fat Dog: The Book

Write A Poem, Win A Book: The First Fat Dog Poetry Contest!

I'm giving away a couple of books.  All you have to do is write a funny poem.  Details are here:

Do you have a fat cat or fat dog?

Have you ever made up a poem about your pudgy pet?

Have you ever wished that you could somehow win a prize for your poem?

Well, there’s good news.  Martha Garvey, author of the pet health books My Fat Dog and My Fat Cat (Hatherleigh Press, 2005) , is holding a poetry contest.  She’s looking for funny poetry about your Fat Cat or Fat Dog.  Extra special consideration given to limericks.

Winning entries will receive their choice of My Fat Dog or My Fat Cat, and will be published on the books’ blogs, http://www.myfatcatbook.com and http://www.myfatdogbook.com

E-mail your entries to Martha@myfatcatbook.com or Martha@myfatdogbook.com.  We will totally guard dog your e-mail privacy.  Contest ends November 1, 2005.

Do Some More Good!

This month, I'm donating a percentage of both books' proceeds to Noah's Wish, an animal rescue organization that specializes in disaster relief. They've been doing fantastic work in the Gulf Coast area.  But there are other great groups doing work in the Gulf Coast, and I'll be donating to them in the future, including Best Friends.  You can read about their work here. 

Fat Dogs and Cats Invade Cleveland!

Well, not really.  Both books were favorably reviewed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living/1126171876113680.xml&coll=2

Do Some Good!

Last week,I had a great time being interviewed by Crystal Vixie, from radio station K-95.3, in Willmar, Minnesota.  Crystal loves the critters. She’s even rescued a three-legged, aka tripod, cat.  I told her that tripod cats are becoming so cool, they even appear on one of my favorite TV shows, COLD CASE.  (Lilly, the lead investigator, cares for one tripod and one one-eyed cat.) Tripods can lead perfectly healthy lives—if they get the right care, and have the right owner.  They’re never going to be good outdoor cats (too vulnerable to predators), and they sometimes have to be a little more careful on the jumping up and down thing…but they’re all cat, all the time. 

Crystal works a lot with the Humane Society of Kandiyohi County. They’re now trying to raise money to build a new facility.  That’s a tough, tough job. If you’re in the area, or even if you’re not, take a look, and give a little.  They have a great Web site, and very informative online newsletter.

Great Advice

One of the major major reasons I ended up writing My Fat Dog and My Fat Cat was this:  I helped make my dog fat.  I wasn't in denial about the fact that Faith was overweight, because, well, people often asked when she was going to have puppies, and one guy dubbed her "Mr. Chubby," wounding both her self-image AND questioning her femininity.  However, I think I was in denial about how much I was causing it.  Then, when she suffered an orthopedic injury, it became paramount that Faith slim down.  That was our wake-up call.   I really want to spare people what we went through.

This column, by a very smart vet, Dr. Suzy Hochgesang, is a great way to look at what you might be doing to cause your pet's excess poundage, and how to stop before it gets serious.

Quiz Answers #1

The average calorie count of medium Milk Bone is_______?

40 calories.

The average calorie count of a medium baby carrot is____?

3 calories.

The average calorie count of a slice of pizza is ____?

259 calories.

My dog should be receiving only ___% of his calories from snacks.

Your dog should only be receiving 10 percent AT most of his calories from snacks.  For a 20 pound dog (who needs,on average, about 690 calories a day), that's 69 calories--or 1-1/2 medium Milkbones.

Or 23 baby carrots.

Or about a quarter of that piece of pizza you were about to feed Fido because he looked so cute.

You do the math.

Snack Quiz

The average calorie count of medium Milk Bone is_______?

The average calorie count of a medium baby carrot is____?

The average calorie count of a slice of pizza is ____?

My dog should be receiving only ___% of his calories from snacks.

Tune in tomorrow for the answers....or post them below!

Fat Pets on the Radio: Upcoming Media

I had a really delightful chat with Barbara Dooley of WGAU-AM in Athens, Georgia last week about My Fat Dog and My Fat Cat.  It's currently scheduled to run this Thursday, September 8th, around 8:45 AM.  Hope you get a chance to listen!

Hurricane Katrina: Where and How to Help

Help in the way you see fit, but help. The loss is overwhelming, the need gigantic.  Noah's Wish is an animal rescue group that is on-site, now, in Louisiana.  Check them out here. A percentage of book sales this month will go to their efforts.