There is a story going around on the Internet about a charming but apparently grossly overweight rescue cat whose name is Mitzi. Many news media websites present a photograph of Mitzi as grossly overweight which is a reason why, they hint, that she has been returned to an animal rescue centre, Woodside Animal Welfare Trust in Plymouth, Devon, no less than four times. I feel very sorry for this cat because it is very upsetting for a cat to be adopted and then returned to a rescue centre four times.

Photo edited fat cat picture

The photograph above explains why I think this image has been photo shopped to make her look much larger than she actually was at that time. She is described as being 16 pounds in weight at the time the photograph was taken. However, I know quite a lot about world-record fat cats (see Clauz for example). Cats of this shape weigh 25 pounds or more. In fact I would argue that she would weigh in the order of 30 odd pounds in this photograph if she really did look like that. And Sprinkles, below, is similar in shape to Mitzi but was twice her weight (click on the link to read about Sprinkles if you wish).

Allowing your cat to get this obese should be a criminal matter

You can see by my description on the photograph that the edges of her body are blurred compared to the surrounding areas which are relatively sharp. It’s impossible for that to happen unless the image has been edited. This is because a lens will create a sharp image along that plane i.e. that distance from the lens. And there is no possibility of any lens aberration as the cat is in the middle of the image more or less.

I’m not saying that the animal rescue centre doctored the image. What I am suggesting is that the newspapers did it to make the story more interesting. In subsequent photographs, indicating that there were taken, other similar time, she looks more like a 16 pound cat. You can see one of these images below. There is a distinct difference. Yes, she was very fat and is losing weight but in the image below she is nowhere near as grossly fat as the image at the top of the page.

Overweight rescue cat struggles to find suitable home

As far as I’m aware, Mitzi is still looking for a home. People can contact Woodside on is 01752 347503.

She is described as being a bit grumpy and a bit fed up. And at the moment she weighs 12 pounds. This is not grossly overweight. She is quite possibly grumpy because of the circumstances under which she has been living recently. I am convinced that some tender loving care and living in a really nice home will soften her heart to become a charming, friendly and loving companion.

The person adopting Mitzi will have to ensure that she remains on a proper feline weight loss diet. The home needs to be child-free and ideally she needs to be the only companion animal at the home.