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In the English city of Bristol, the owner of the cat Keith spent a lot of money on him, in particular, trying to make the pet lose weight, because in seven years he gained almost 6 kilograms. The owners even had to install child locks on the refrigerator and cabinets with food to keep the animal from treats, reports TSN .
When Kit was first brought to the rescue center where Sarah volunteered, the poor guy was very hungry and had gastrointestinal issues, so he had to be put on a special diet. Even then, the cunning Cat would sneak out of his cage and steal food from other cats. When Sarah Matthews got the cat, she knew about some of his medical problems. But the girl had no idea about his appetite and tricks.
"From the beginning, he would eat everything, even strange things. He loves green food, so any vegetables were not safe for him, even if they were on the stove. The vets immediately put him on a vet food diet and we bought feeders for the other cats. This meant that only they could get there through a chip in their collars. He figured out a way to get his claw under the feeder and pull out the cookie tray,” Sarah notes.
Sarah and Keith have visited the vet several times, put the cat on a diet, but the black and white furball has gone from 11 pounds to a staggering 24 pounds over the past seven years, which is about the weight of an average dog.
"At first he climbed in when we opened it (refrigerator. - Ed.), and I was so worried that he would fall into a trap and we wouldn't notice it. When this happens, we have to put more and more locks on every food cabinet. It doesn't matter what it is, he'll find a way," Sarah says.
Despite all the restrictions, Keith continued to gain weight. And the owners of the animal found out that she also went to eat with the neighbors.
"If I offered him fresh meat or fish, he wouldn't eat it. But he liked to collect anything: pizza crusts, etc. We had to stick a tag on him asking people not to feed him,” says Sarah.
During the time Keith has been living with Sarah and her family, they have had to spend tens of thousands of pounds on his food and treatment.
We've spent tens of thousands of pounds on it over the years. For the first year, he took a lot of medication to try to fix his eye and ear problems. At one point we prepared special food for him because he had problems with urination. The food cost £70 a bag and he was on it for three years. In 2020 we paid £2500 for blood tests for Cushing's disease, diabetes etc but all came back negative. The cat has had many tests at the vets over the years, but nothing has come back positive. We thought that he had problems with the pituitary gland, but this was not confirmed," the animal's owner notes.
She says there is a possibility that Keith has a neurological problem, but the tests would cost thousands of pounds and insurance won't cover it.
"It's a closed circle with him. When he takes antibiotics, it causes him even more stomach problems, so he has to eat with an appetite stimulant to make him want to eat, which adds to his weight problems. When we took him to the vets to be weighed, I cried because we did everything and he just kept getting heavier," the woman says.
Although he is twice the size of a standard adult cat, his size does not prevent him from being happy and active, and he loves to play with Sarah's daughter Charlie, who has autism.
"He is really happy. I don't think he sees his weight as a problem. He pretty much lives a normal cat life. The cat is much more energetic than my other two cats. He likes to run and play. "Sometimes I think he's more like a dog than a cat," says Sarah.
"He doesn't have any medical problems at the moment due to his size, but we are concerned about what could happen in the future. We don't want him to develop diabetes or anything like that," adds owner Kita.
