Meet this lovely and chubby cat named Bazooka. An orange tabby. He is five years old and was delivered to a shelter after his owner died of old age. The owner had dementia and most likely forgot when he fed Bazooka, so he always filled up his bowl when he saw it empty. This is the reason this ginger cat weighs over 35 pounds (around 16 kilograms)! That is a lot of weight for a cat. However, we shouldn‘t be mad at the previous owner, he was trying his best to take care of and love Bazooka.
When the overweight cat arrived at the shelter, he needed a lot of medical care. He was even carried in by two of the employees that were genuinely surprised by his size. This fat cat needed to start his weight loss journey to become healthier, happier, and to do all the normal things cats do.
Bazooka was soon heading to a new home to a trained foster family that would monitor his health and help the cute cat lose those extra pounds. In one video, we can see him trying to climb the stairs. With the love and support of his foster parents, he achieved that goal. Slowly but surely, he started adapting to his new healthy lifestyle and losing weight.
When Bazooka’s health became better, he was finally ready to go to his new family. His new owner fell in love with the adorable cat the first moment she saw him! It was a very sweet sight. Soon, Bazooka had a new name that is quite fitting for a cat with his stature—King Augustus (A Roman statesman and military leader who became the first emperor of the Roman Empire).
We managed to contact King Agustus’ new owner Robin Anderson and ask her some questions. We asked her how is the cat doing so far and did he manage to lose some weight already: “He’s only been home from adoption for 2 days so no weight loss yet. When he got weighed at the Vet’s office on Monday, he had actually gained a little clocking in at 36.4lbs. His next vet check is February 14th.”
When asked what is the hardest part while taking care of King Augustus, the owner gave a humorous answer: “The hardest part is carrying him – and getting his crate/him in the back of the car. My arms are killing me!”
Robin loves to work out. She told us how she manages to stay in shape and hopefully she will inspire Augustus to do the same: “I am now a long-distance runner. Ran my first marathon this past November. Five years ago because I was diagnosed with diabetes, I decided to lose weight (127 lbs) — a lot of weight I had acquired because I was on steroids for a skin condition. But due to weight loss, I got my A1C from a 9 to 4.3 and am no longer diabetic. I run at 4:30 am twice a week (4-5miles each) and then over the weekend average 8-16 miles. I ran a half-marathon this past weekend and have about 30 more races scheduled this coming year. I am thinking of getting King a harness and see if we can do some walking together! Let’s get moving.”
The owner said that Augustus is still getting adjusted to his new home, they are slowly introducing him to the family (including their 10-pound dog). Robin mentioned that Augustus is a “snuggle bunny”, he loves belly scratches and she’s looking forward to when he’s completely used to and comfortable in her home. She also added that her favorite trait of Augustus so far is his purr “It’s louder than a Ford F-150”.
We asked Robin to tell us the story of how this all happened, how she found out about Augustus and did it take her long to decide whether to take him into her home: “My beloved Maine Coon cat, Whisky, passed in August and I’ve been missing something fierce. I joined a great Facebook group – Maine Coon Rescue Community — where they forward posts from different shelters/SPCAs across the country. I had been stalking posts for some time but the rescues were often thousands of miles away. Last week, I saw a post for King (Bazooka) that he was being moved from Davidson County Animal Shelter in my state to the Wake County SPCA (where I live). There was a picture of him trying to be held by a young woman – the look on his face was precious. I knew immediately we were meant for each other. I could relate to his weight loss issues. Besides, we redheads have to stick together. I dropped everything I was doing and headed directly down to the SPCA to fill out the paperwork. When I got there, he was still being transported and he wasn’t in the computer system yet. By the end of the adoption ‘interview,’ he had been added and I was first in line. Whoopee!”
They are still getting to know each other, but hopefully, they will soon be a big happy family and King Augustus will get back his health and be a happy kitten in his amazing, new home. Let’s all wish Augustus good luck and we hope that he will be happier than ever!
