‘It’s been amazing’: 40-pound cat loses more than half his body weight after finding new home

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - It’s been about a year since Patches took social media by storm.

The once hefty 40-plus-pound cat is now living a slimmer and healthier life after being adopted last year.

“When you look at them in the face and they look at you, and you say to yourself I can’t imagine them being anywhere else, it makes me emotional,” said Patches’ owner Kay Ford.

According to Ford, she will never forget when she first met Patches.

“I just feel a very special bond with him,” she said.

Patches was a whopping 42 pounds when Ford adopted him from Richmond Animal Care and Control.

The animal shelter team said he was the most giant cat they’d ever seen.

Ford said she immediately got to work helping Patches lose his extra weight.

“It’s very easy to give into the begging,” Ford said. “But if they know that you’re not going to give in, they stop, or at least Patches is like that.”

These days, Patches looks a little different and Ford’s new lifestyle for him has made a difference.

Patches currently weighs just a little more than 16 pounds.

“He goes up and down the steps,” Ford said. “I really attribute it to his partnership with Wellesley [Ford’s other cat], his connection with Wellesley because that’s a lot.”

But this is not the end of Patches’ weight loss journey.

Ford hopes Patches can drop another 6 pounds through diet, exercise and determination.

“His first goal was to get to 20 pounds,” Ford said. “It’s been amazing. He has consistently lost weight every single week.”

Patches’ weight loss journey has also inspired other pet owners to make their pets a little bit healthier as his social media page has grown to nearly 50,000 followers.

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