Chunky Mr Gato

So our most recent foster cat is the 5 year old chubby Mr Gato. He has been in our care for a couple of months now. It was decided to get him out of the cattery as he had started to withdraw from human affection and began over-grooming. In addition, he was an overweight cat that needed more room to move. It was decided he come to us until he gets a new forever home.

He is such a cute big fellow. Super cuddly at times (only when he decides he is in the mood). We have tried many things to keep him a happy cat. He is most fond of boxes but gets bored of them after a short while. Luckily we are doing the Hello Fresh thing so we get a new box each week. It must be the new smells but the new box quickly re-kindles his love of the cardboard castles again. Despite this he continues to over-groom. Not quite to the same extent and with the help of the vet we have tried a few things that haven't been completely successful yet. Hopefully he will get a new forever home soon where he is able to roam-free outside, I feel that is the element missing for him to become a happy cat.

His overweight issues are getting much better with the help of a special diet and encouraging him to play. Although getting him to leave the comfort of his cardboard castles can prove quite difficult most of the time. Even playing with dangly toys he prefers to jump for them from the comfort of the box! When we first got him his official weight was 8.1kg (one big kitty, so big in fact that the handle of his cat carrier cannot handle his significant size!) On our scales he measured 8.4kg, He is now a fantastic 7.5kg on our scales. What an amazing cat. Would defo get the biggest loser award in this house as James and I have fell off the wagon and back on the goodies again.

In the morning he is at his cutest (probably because he is a hungry monster at this time). He tends to come and lie on me and purr like a maddie. This lasts until his weight gets too much for me and I relent and get up to feed him. The best part is when he is so happy he sticks out his little tongue. The not so best part are the dribbles of slebbers that ensue because he is so happy and relaxed.

Gonna miss this chunky fellow once he finally goes but for his sake I hope it's soon. Our wee flat just isn't big and exciting enough to keep this guy amused. Also the fact that my back is dodgy doesn't help. If he needs to visit the vet again for any reason I am gonna have to wait for James to take him. Trying to carry that weight in the kitty carrier is just a recipe for disaster with my suspected slipped disc!