At the end of April, an animal shelter in Virginia, USA, published a photo of a very large cat named Patches on social networks. The picture was supplemented with the caption:
You woke up today and said: "Let's take the biggest cat we've ever seen"? If yes, then we have a cat for you.
The foundation noted that the cat is "very cute", sits on a special diet and performs an exercise plan, and that they are looking for a host who will help him return to a healthy weight. "In the meantime, we will admire his immense body!" the authors of the publication added.
When Patches was delivered to the shelter, his weight was 42 pounds, which is 19 kg. The cat was very shy, so he did not immediately make contact.
We were all shocked by its size. He is definitely the biggest cat our employees have ever seen.
The publication with the photo Patches quickly spread across the Network. The shelter staff received hundreds of responses from all over the country — many people were ready to take the cat to help him lose weight and find his family.
In the comments under the photo, users noted that Patches has a very cute face with a heart on his nose, and that he deserves the best hosts. The cat has become a real favorite of the Internet.
As a result, Patches went to a local woman named Kay Ford. She noted that she just fell in love with this cat.
My daughter sent me a message this morning and said: "This is your chance." I clicked on the picture and said, "Oh my gosh, I should have Patches. I just need Patches."
Kay joked that the cat was the size of "half a whiskey barrel" when she first saw him in person. Now she will help him lose weight. She even created a social media page — "Journey Patches" — to track the cat's weight loss progress.
This will be a very long process, since he cannot lose more than a pound [≈450 grams] per month, or even longer, for example, from half to a pound per month. So if he needs to lose 20-25 pounds, it's going to be a long way.
Good luck to Patches and Kay!
In previous editions of the Guinness Book of Records, the heaviest cat of all was Himmi from Australia, who weighed about 46 pounds (≈21 kg). But he died on March 12, 1986 at the age of 10 years and 4 months. Patches is now 6 years old and, it seems, he is the record holder of living cats.
