Fat cat Socrates loses weight on new diet

WEIGHING in at a whopping 22lbs, massive moggy Socrates takes the term “fat cat” to a whole new level.

Journallive.co.uk - But this is the chubby kitty pictured last night after actually losing weight in a special diet plan.

Socrates ballooned to a huge 10 kilos after his owner, Bill Duncan, fed him a diet of crisps, cheese and other tit-bit treats.

Mr Duncan, of North Shields, says he also gave him far too much regular pet food before the moggy’s size spiraled out of control.

And when vets declared Socrates 124% overweight and double his recommended size, Bill decided something had to be done.

So the portly puss was signed up for a national pet slimming competition – a 100-day diet and fitness programme called The Pet Fit Club Challenge.

Now two months later, Bill and Socrates are celebrating after the moggy lost one-and-a-half pounds.

That might not sound like much, but Socrates’ vet has assured Bill this is a huge achievement because cats need to lose weight extremely gradually in order to stay healthy.

The aim is to help him reach his ideal weight of 9lbs in 18 months time.

Bill, 52, explained: “I was basically giving him too much food, I admit that. I just thought because he was a big cat it would be okay. It’s all my fault.

“With the cheese and crisps he would sit there staring at me so I would break off a little bit and throw it to him. “But my girlfriend stopped me doing that. She said if you keep doing that you’re going to have a begging cat, so I stopped.

“I’ve had him since he was a kitten and he used to have a bowl full of dried food in the morning and one in the night.

“And then at the weekend when my partner came to stay he would have a treat of half a tin of what I call ‘wet food’.

“I just didn’t realise I was doing anything wrong at the time.”

But now the hungry cat is fee-line great and looking to the future after finally losing a bit of kitty fat.

Nine pets from around the country entered the weight loss scheme with vets’ charity PDSA.

The winner will receive a special four-night pet-friendly holiday, yet to be announced.

The fit club was set up by the PDSA in response to an increase in pet obesity of more than 10% over the last five years.

A survey discovered that owners are feeding their pets chips, fatty meat, cheese and even hot dogs, while almost half a million pet dogs are not being walked for an appropriate amount of time each day.

Andrew Golightly, a senior vet at the Newcastle PDSA Pet Aid hospital, said: “Socrates is doing really well in the competition and the change in him, even at this halfway stage, is fantastic. There’s still a long way to go but we’re confident that he will continue to do very well.”

Bill added: “He’s fitter and faster and he’s grooming himself again which is good.

“He chases toys that I’ve got for him. He doesn’t catch any mice though.”