There’s nothing extraordinary about a cat being taken in by an animal shelter. There are thousands of homeless animals who rely on the kindness of humans. At these shelters, animals are fed, bathed and in some cases, treated for injuries. But on occasion, the staff at these facilities might get the surprise of their lives when they welcome a new cat, which is where our story begins. A cat recently arrived at the Animal Care Centers of NY, but this was no ordinary feline. His name was Barsik, and he was the biggest cat anyone had ever seen at the shelter.The 5-year-old cat was accompanied by his friend, Sukie, but the staff was stunned by Barsik’s size. He weighed 41 pounds. Fat cats are adorbs, but it’s actually dangerous for cats to be extremely obese.
The shelter wasn’t equipped to care for a cat of Barsik’s size. Their cat kennels weren’t big enough. So, the Anjellicle Cats Rescue in New York took both kitties in, but moving Barsik to his foster mom’s home wasn’t easy.
But Barsik’s foster mom, Angelique Luzzolino had to carry the enormous feline to the house all on her own. It wasn’t easy given that Barsik was only 5 pounds away from breaking the Guinness World Record for the fattest cat.
Hiding between the bed and nightstand was difficult since he was so big. His weight also limited his range of motion and all that extra weight made it tough to get up, lie down, or even jump like most cats do.
For now, Angelique is brushing him and intends to use waterless shampoo to improve the condition of his coat. But what Barsik needs the most is to lose weight, but losing it too fast could prove dangerous.
Aside from giving him plenty of food, she’s also provided him with soft blankets to sleep on. But Angelique can’t make any drastic changes to his diet until they see a vet or it could cause fatty liver disease.
Barsik will be placed on a strict weight loss regimen consisting of only wet food. Once he’s healthy enough, he will say goodbye to his foster mommy in order to live happily ever after in his forever home.
