Bazooka Joe, a ginger tabby cat from North Carolina that weighed an astounding 36.6 pounds (approx. 16.6 kg), was placed in the care of the Wake County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after his previous owner died.
SPCA first introduced Bazooka to the world by posting pictures of him on
Facebook on Jan. 15, 2020, with the caption, “Get ready for a lotta love! This is Bazooka, he just arrived from one of SPCA Wake’s valued transfer partners.”
They further added, “He’s heading to a trained foster family where he'll receive medical treatment and start on his weight loss journey!”
At first glance, it would seem like the previous owner had no regard for his health that he allowed the feline to grow so big, but his backstory is more sorrowful than that.
Bazooka’s former owner had dementia, and SPCA volunteers believe the cat gained weight because the elderly man kept forgetting if he had fed his beloved pet. “He thought he was doing the best thing for his cat by feeding him,” Darci VanderSlik, communication director and spokesperson for the SPCA, said, per
News and Observer. “We need to look on this with a compassionate view. He was loved.”
Getting this 5-year-old massive feline back to a normal weight would surely not be an easy challenge. “The process could take six months or longer, it really depends on how much exercise he is doing,” VanderSlik said, according to
Metro. “With cats, it is very difficult to get them to lose weight so each pound is quite difficult but makes a huge difference to their overall health.”
Michelle Barry was Bazooka’s foster mother before the kitten went to his forever home. According to her, despite the feline’s weight, he loved human company and was not as lazy as one would think. “He wants to be around people,” Barry said, per News and Observer. “He’s happiest lying right next to you. And he’s more active than I expected him to be.”
With the foster family, Bazooka had already started his new diet. However, his weight loss goal was a rather ambitious one, and VanderSlik said she hopes the new owner will keep up with it and stay in touch with the shelter. “Thirty-five pounds is a lot of weight for a cat so we’re really hoping we can get him down 20 pounds, 25 pounds, even lighter than that,” she said, per
ABC 7. “One step at a time,” she added.
As the gorgeous tabby cat became internet famous and requests of adoption came in, VanderSlik wanted to use the opportunity to raise awareness on the potential health risks that come with overfeeding pets.
She is, however, mindful of the different situations that lead to animals going into shelters—as was the case with Bazooka. “We don’t know a lot of the back stories of the animals we get, but we try not to judge people or make people feel bad about the circumstances that led to their surrender,” she explained.
According to
WRAL, Bazooka was renamed King Augustus after he was adopted by a distance runner, Robin Anderson, who was scrolling through Maine Coon Rescue Community on Facebook where she came across the giant feline.
Anderson had lost her cat in Maine Coon in August 2019 and was looking for another cat to fill the space in her heart. She immediately contacted the rescue organization and found out the cat wasn’t yet adopted.
Anderson then jumped into a car, drove down to the shelter, and filled the adoption papers.
“I related to the cat. I had a lot of weight-loss issues myself,” she further added. “I said, ‘You know what? We could do well together.’”
Anderson chronicles King Augustus’s weight loss journey on
Facebook under Trials & Tribulations of “King” Augustus, the Cat. She wrote an update on March 17, stating the cat had “Lost 2 lbs (.91k) in 2 months at vet check. Meow!!!”
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