'Chubber' Cat Found Wandering Jersey Weighs In at 25 Lbs.

Orange tabby has such a wide chest, he walks like a bulldog

Last week, animal control officer Bill Knipe got a call from his sergeant at the Bridgeton, N.J., police department. His sergeant, a famous jokester, told Knipe that there was a very fat stray cat wandering around his rural New Jersey neighborhood.

“Bring a cage that’s big enough for a dog,” the sergeant said.

Knipe wasn’t inclined to believe the part about the cat’s size, but followed orders and went out to check anyway. When he found the animal, it was indeed in need of special accommodation. This orange tabby, so large he looked and walked like a bulldog, weighed in at 25 lbs. His width and weight, though 19 lbs. lighter than 44-lb. Princess Chunk (also of New Jersey), inspired the Cumberland County SPCA staff to name him Henry VIII.

“He’s a chubber,” shelter director Bev Greco tells PEOPLEPets.com. “He’s just huge. He has a big, broad head. I have never seen a cat with the build that he has. He’s 25 lbs. of fat, he really is.”

“His Highness,” as he’s also known, likely has a thyroid condition that has caused his weight to balloon, but was also probably overfed by his previous owner. Yes, magnificent, friendly Henry likely belonged to someone before being abandoned, and he has not been claimed.

“It is so upsetting, but it’s typical with cats,” Greco says. “Reclaim rates for cats is only around 2 percent, which is horrible.”

So Henry is officially available for adoption and is currently staying at the shelter, where he is hanging out in his double-bank cage, often laying in his extra-large litter box and spilling out the sides of it. He will undergo blood work to see if he does have a thyroid condition, and he is already on a weight-control meal plan. The shelter just hopes that someone will give Henry VIII a new kingdom and a forever home.

“It’s kitten season, so people walk in and are looking for something little and cute, not a big guy that will need thyroid medication everyday,” Greco says. “That’s the hard part. But he is as sweet as could be, and very tolerant.”

Meet more hefty cats on PEOPLEPets.com:
3 Signs of Pet Obesity: You Know Your Cat Is Fat When …
34-Lb. Shelter Kitty Finds New Home, New Diet