the cat's name is Riley and the woman is Martha
I don't know either of them but the picture is cool
Posted on 07/06/2006 7:20:33 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
PORT ARANSAS - Yes, the fat cat is here.
Among the beach pictures, jewelry and nautical decor at The Connoisseur, Chester roams - slowly.
The 31-pound orange tabby cat has become something of a tourist draw after he was featured in a May segment of Texas Country Reporter, a television travel show.
"They said they wanted to interview Chester," said owner Cassandra Clark. "I thought that was the funniest thing ever, but they were serious."
But even before that, word was traveling about Chester.
"All day, every day, people want to see the cat," said Rhoda Gleason, a store employee.
She and Heather Conner, another worker, know by heart the list of questions that come when customers first see Chester.
Is it real? (Yes.)
How much does he weigh? (About 30 pounds.)
Can he walk? (Yes.)
What does he eat? (He shares one cup of cat food with another cat each day.)
Sure enough, Sam Carnes and his niece Molly McGuire, 8, asked nearly every question during a visit from Boerne.
Donna Slagle and her daughter-in-law, Carmen Slagle, had to come back for a second look.
"I told my husband, 'You've got to see this cat,'" Carmen said.
Chester shares the store with Rat, a calico cat. Clark rescued the two 11 years ago.
They moved to the store about eight years ago when Clark learned her now 9-year-old son was allergic to cats. It was either move the son to the store or the cats. Clark said Chester's recent publicity has brought more customers in, but many just want to eye the cat. She insists Chester's not a marketing tool.
"The cats are not on display," Clark said. "The cats are not here to generate business. We don't wake them up just so you can see them. They live here."
Sandi Stout with the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce said she's been directing people to Chester, answering phone calls from people vacationing in the area who are making an extra trip to see the fat cat.
"We have a lot of things that people would find interesting that a lot of other people would go right past and never pay any attention to it," she said.
At the store, the cats make themselves at home. Rat likes to nestle inside the trunk of captain's hats, and Chester naps atop a digital scale - it's not a weight-conscious move, Clark says - because he just likes the spot. Another favorite is the countertop, which allows visitors a peek at his belly from below as it spreads out atop the glass.
Clark said the cats share one cup of cat food each day, and only Chester has grown into a tourist attraction. Rat weighs in at 12 pounds. Several cat care Web sites list a cat's ideal weight between 6 and 12 pounds for small and medium breeds and up to 20 pounds for large breeds. Overweight cats may be more prone to diabetes, arthritis and have difficulty grooming.
Clark theorizes Chester's weight may be related to his neutering at an early age, and a slow metabolism.
Clark said she and her veterinarian aren't overly concerned about Chester's weight but will try to bring it down. Chester gets two insulin shots a day to help regulate his blood sugar, and Clark plans to put him on a diet of pure protein with chicken and tuna. But she keeps forgetting to bring the food to the store.
Exercise is out of the question.
"How do you get a cat to exercise?" she asked.
And our friend in the cowboy hat has a red neck, so he must be a......ah, never mind....he's got a Treo.
the cat's name is Riley and the woman is Martha
I don't know either of them but the picture is cool
Can they please be arrested for animal cruelty
Well, he only gets a cup of food a day, and they do give him insulin shots....
I have a fat cat living with me ... look at the head on that cat and the size of the paws! THAT cat in the picture is a BIG cat, not a fat cat.
Or he might hunt the only nearby prey that's big enough to feed his huge appetite. Fortunately for the cat that prey is slow and stupid enough so that instead of running off it walks up the the big fuzzy hunter and says "aww, look at the fat pussy cat". Remember, that bag of cat chow is the only think that keeps you off the menu.
"BRING ME LASGANA!"
[Thanks to hispanarepublicana for the ping!]
ping
yeah, and fatties gain wait from only LOOKING at oreos.
Hi beautiful Kitty Kat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whoa. Kitty needs a stint on the Catkins Diet...
My two kitty-kids weight 20, and 22 lbs. They are huge cats and a pleasure to have around.
He's one of our purebred Maine Coons and he's just over 25 pounds. Yeah, he's fat, but he's not THAT fat. He's just bloody HUGE. (We figure his scientific name must be fattus cattus.)
He really needs to lose a little weight, but the problem is, we've got a second Maine Coon, Beauregard, that's a rescue and is ultra-scrawny. He's healthy, he's been checked out as clean, but he's rail-thin and won't eat a lot. So if we put out enough food for Bo, Livingston pigs; and if we cut Livingston's food back, Bo doesn't get enough. And let me tell you, hiding food for the scrawny cat doesn't work. Livingston can be VERY limber and athletic when there's food to be found.
I'd about guarantee Chester's got some Maine Coon Cat, or possibly Norwegian Forest Cat, in his family tree. I've seen pictures of a purebred MCC from a breeder in southern Indiana; the cat, Leo, is orange like Chester, but he's 33 pounds and tall enough to reach around a doorknob when standing on his hind legs. And he's NOT fat.
}:-)4
Our Maine Coon would never eat all of his food but would hide it under anything that was handy for later.
Perhaps the leader of Viking Kitties has been discovered!
You have a beautiful kitty!
Hee hee. I love it when our Pontiac tries to bury his leftovers by scratching the floor and wall next to his food bowl. That's a good boy, Pontie, cover it up! LOL
That cat is truly big. Reminds me of my orange cat name Pumpkin. Cats to me are like people, but they have fur.
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