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Meow ( – May 5, 2012), also known as Meow the obese cat, was a male domestic
cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
who attracted international attention when an animal shelter publicized efforts to slim him down, in an attempt to have him adopted. However, Meow died of lung failure two weeks after entering the animal shelter, on May 5, 2012. He was the world's heaviest cat at his time of death, weighing .


Weight

Domestic cats are as large as most other members of the genus ''Felis'', typically weighing between and . Meow weighed , the heaviest cat in the world—though not on record. Himmy, a cat from Australia, had weighed 21.3 kilograms (46.8 pounds) upon dying during his tenth year, in 1986.
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
has since retired the title to discourage deliberate overfeeding. Being the world's heaviest cat, Meow occasionally appeared on U.S. television shows. In 2010 he was featured on an episode of '' Anderson Live'', which was hosted by U.S.
television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show '' Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties a ...
. Meow was again featured on ''Anderson Live'' on April 30, 2012, with Cooper carrying the fat cat.


Weight loss and death

Meow was moved to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society two weeks before he died because his 87-year-old owner could no longer care for him. The animal shelter fed Meow a strict
high-protein diet A high-protein diet is a diet in which 20% or more of the total daily calories comes from protein.Longe, Jacqueline L. (2008). ''High-protein diet''. In ''The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition''. Gale. pp. 524-526. Most ...
to slim him. The shelter also planned to publicize Meow and his diet on their
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
page. Meow's publicity was expected to arouse interest in his adoption. He lost two pounds (0.9 kilograms) at the animal shelter, and the shelter planned to make him lose at least eight more (3.6 kilograms) so he could be adopted. However, Meow contracted breathing problems by May 2, 2012; after undergoing a battery of tests, which included
X-ray X-rays (or rarely, ''X-radiation'') are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. In many languages, it is referred to as Röntgen radiation, after the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who discovered it in 1895 and named it ' ...
and
cardiac ultrasound An echocardiography, echocardiogram, cardiac echo or simply an echo, is an ultrasound of the heart. It is a type of medical imaging of the heart, using standard ultrasound or Doppler ultrasound. Echocardiography has become routinely used in th ...
, he was put on
oxygen therapy Oxygen therapy, also known as supplemental oxygen, is the use of oxygen as medical treatment. Acute indications for therapy include hypoxemia (low blood oxygen levels), carbon monoxide toxicity and cluster headache. It may also be prophylactic ...
. On May 4 Meow was brought to a veterinary hospital to undergo emergency treatment: four veterinarians tried to save him, but he died on the afternoon of May 5.


See also

* Obesity in pets *
Corduroy (cat) This is a list of the oldest cats in the world, verified or not, listed by reported age, all of whom have attained the minimum age of 25 years. Aging in cats depends on breed, size and diet. Some of the ages reported here are approximate. Others ...
* Prince Chunk *
List of individual cats This is a list of famous cats which achieved some degree of popularity either in their own right or by association with someone famous. Before the modern era * Nedjem or Nojem ( Egyptian: ''nḏm'' "Sweet One" or "Sweetie"), 15th century BC. The ...


References

{{reflist 2010 animal births 2012 animal deaths Individual cats Male mammals