A cat weighing in at 40.3 pounds has been adopted, the Richmond Animal Care and Control shelter in Virginia shared to Facebook on Wednesday, to the delight of his internet fans.
The white cat with gray spots and a gray tail named Patches had been homeless and was looking for an owner to help regulate his "gloriously gluttonous body," as the shelter's original post described him.
When the massive feline arrived at the animal shelter, he was about 42 pounds, but has already managed to drop some weight on a special diet and exercise plan.
“He should be around 15-20 pounds max, and even that is a big cat,” RACC Outreach Coordinator Robin Young said.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
When the shelter posted about Patches on Facebook, he instantly garnered much attention. And within just a few hours, he found a new forever home.
“We’ve gotten a ton of emails, one as far away as California,” Young said.
The shelter said despite his size, the cat surprisingly has no thyroid issues, diabetes, or other illnesses associated with being overweight.
According to the Guinness World Record, Patches isn't the fattest cat of all time. Himmy, a 46-pound cat from Australia, took that prize and he was so big that he needed to be moved around in a wheelbarrow.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Since that record in 1986, Guinness has stopped awarding that category “to deter people from over-feeding their pets just to appear in the book.”
