Meow, allegedly the country’s heaviest feline, passed away over the weekend after developing respiratory complications.
The nation met the rotund kitty last month after his 87-year-old owner dropped him off at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, claiming she could no longer care for him – no surprise, given that Meow tipped the scales at 39 pounds. The average cat Meow’s “height” weighs 8-12 pounds; an equivalent-sized human would weigh around 600 pounds.
The orange-and-white tabby became a media sensation, appearing on Anderson Cooper’s show and elsewhere in an effort to find a new home (and perhaps raise awareness of the country’s growing pet-obesity problem). But Meow’s high weight put him at risk of life-threatening complications, which sadly took his life before his new caretakers’ dietary measures could show a benefit. “We are devastated,” Mary Martin, the Santa Fe shelter’s executive director, commented. “We were in a race against time to get the weight off Meow before he developed complications from his morbid obesity and we lost.”
Fat Thanks to Sunita K. for the tip!