Fat cat

Judging me, a human, for being fat is one thing... but my cat?

Honey Bunny and I have new upstairs neighbors. I heard through a mutual friend that he thinks my cat is too big. Of course, one of their cats is named "Shamu" - as in the famous whale - so maybe there's a theme here.

If my cat were human, she'd probably be about a size 14. Yeah, she'd be shopping at Lane Bryant and some of the 14s would be too small on her while some of the 16s would be too big, and she'd complain aloud about the state of shopping at her size 15 while the size 26s in the store sneered at her in contempt. Granted, being a seriously fluffy Norwegian Forest Cat doesn't help matters in the size department. Her kitty afro is so beautiful that it makes the other cats in the neighborhood jealous. But seriously, she's at the bottom of the plus-size cat scale, thank you very much.

This isn't the first time I've heard something about her weight, either. Everytime she goes to the vet, they tell me she needs to lose weight. (Funny, because that's what happens everytime *I* go to the doctor, too.) Kitty has actually lost 3 pounds in the last year because she hates the urine-crystal-abatement-plan food she's now required to eat. Now she's got belly flab that hangs down and swings when she walk.

Long round-about point being that it's bad enough fat is obsessed about so readily in our human culture, but are people so conditioned against fat that they're now pointing the finger at fat pets, too?

Sidenote about the sidebar

See those links on the right-hand sidebar, for fat girl shopping? Lane Bryant, Catherine's and Fashion Bug are missing because apparently, if I link to their sites, their parent corporation can legally sue me. No thanks!

I personally like Lane Bryant, so it's unfortunate.

If I'm missing any other good fat sites - clothing or otherwise - please comment or email me to let me know what they are. I would love to add to the collection!

There IS a partner out there for you

I'd resigned myself to one night stands with guys who were too drunk to care that I was fat. I'd resigned myself to crushes on guys who flirted with the idea of being with me but in the end were too concerned about friends and families opinions about fat people. I'd resigned myself to never having a true boyfriend or lover, ever.

Then one day, I resigned myself to opening up my own narrow scope of guys who were acceptable (ie. thin-as-rail hipsters) because I realized I was being kinda hypocritical. I ended up going out with a guy who was fat, but of course he was also a hipster because "that's my thing". It ended in disaster and thus, I had to resign myself to the fact that hipsters are devils disguised in chunky-framed glasses and Adidas Gazelles. Hipster dudes are only interested in having fat girl best friends, trust me. [And besides, unless you're diligently hip yourself, buying vinyl instead of CDs, spending all your money on Death Cab for Cutie shows and vodka, only reading books by Dave Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer, things never turn out well with a hipster, no matter what size you are.]

About six months later, I resigned myself to posting a personal ad on Craigslist which announced my fatness rather than down-played it, thinking that this would bring an onslaught of hater emails and probably nothing more. Requisite "who you trying to fool, bitch" emails aside, there was more. A lot of guys answered, all of whom knew exactly what the word "zaftig" meant. I met my current Honey Bunny of two years from this very ad! Up until that point, I honestly had no idea that there are dudes out there that actually prefer the zaftig lady. I honestly had no idea that a guy could love me without thinking, "she needs to lose some weight."

The dating world sucks no matter what your size and sexual orientation is. As a former roommate once told me, "you gotta pad your ego, cut your losses, and just keep moving forward." Don't accept anything less than spending some fun time with a person who is truly interested in you for who you are inside and out. Don't let anyone tear down your ego just because s/he has been conditioned to reject people based on their size. Don't be afraid to end a date or relationship if the person is treating you badly.

If I can do it, you can do it!