<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div>Courtesy of <i>My San Antonio</i> at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/36-pound-cat-found-in-San-Antonio-will-undergo-5920211.php#photo-7196931">http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/36-pound-cat-found-in-San-Antonio-will-undergo-5920211.php#photo-7196931</a></div><div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><h1 class="headline entry-title" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; outline: none 0px; clear: both; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 40px; font-size: 36px; font-family: Sanchez, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">36 pound cat found in San Antonio will undergo weight loss program</h1><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">SAN ANTONIO — A female cat named Butterball that weighed a whopping 36 pounds when Animal Care Services took her in earlier this month will undergo a dietary program designed to help obese cats lose weight.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Officers with Bexar County Animal Control Services picked up Butterball on Nov. 11 in the 2200 block of Mobeetie Trail on the West Side of Bexar County after a person said the animal bit them.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When weighed hours later, Butterball came in at 36 pounds, a record for San Antonio Animal Care Services, spokeswoman Lisa Norwood said. That’s roughly equivalent to a 5'9” human male that weighs 633 pounds, according to the <a href="http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cat.pdf" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Association for Pet Obesity Prevention</a>.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The average domestic cat weighs eight to 10 pounds, according to the <a href="http://www.petobesityprevention.org/ideal-weight-ranges/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Association for Pet Obesity Prevention</a>.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"It's not cute, it's not a novelty," Norwood said Wednesday. "She's suffering."</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Caring for obese cats isn't a brand new task for the department. <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Move-over-people-San-Antonio-s-cats-are-fat-too-5400795.php#photo-6164308" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Officials in April rescued a pair of obese cats</a> — Melvin, a 26-pound Tomcat, and Marvin, which weighs 20 pounds — after being neglected.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Officials haven't determined exactly what caused Butterball's weight to balloon, said Bethany Colonnese, adoption supervisor for Animal Care Services, but suspect a neglectful owner.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"She didn't get this way on her own," Colonnese said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Butterball has lost roughly five pounds since she was picked up two weeks ago, weighing 30.9 pounds on Wednesday. Veterinarians and ACS staff have had to restrict her diet, handfeeding Butterball pieces of salmon and tuna as well as Pounce cat treats.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Norwood said the orange tabby has difficulty moving and is more likely to eat if pet.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Friday, the Animal Defense League will take in Butterball, spokesman Hugo Vital said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After running medical checks, Butterball will begin the league's "Phat Camp" program, which began this summer and was designed to help obese cats shed pounds, sometime next week.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The program will involve eating leaner food for dieting cats and daily exercise playing with cat toys. Vital said it's unclear how long it will take for obtain a healthy weight, which doctors will have to determine through their preliminary medical checks and Butterball's activity levels.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"She is definitely going to be the heaviest cat that we have seen," Vital said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Adoption supervisor Bethany Colonnese of Animal Care Services cares for a 30.9 pound cat named Butterball at their facilities on HWY 151 on November 26, 2014.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><img src="cid:AAEF76FC-1997-49AC-B9B1-BC6641C3EBFA" alt="image1.jpeg" id="AAEF76FC-1997-49AC-B9B1-BC6641C3EBFA"></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_112914_01.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_112914_01.jpg</a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">----------</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A female cat named Butterball that weighed a whopping 36 pounds when Animal Care Services took her in earlier this month will undergo a dietary program designed to help obese cats lose weight.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><img src="cid:F7FA1F71-241B-4EAB-A773-D35AA46F3279" alt="image1.jpeg" id="F7FA1F71-241B-4EAB-A773-D35AA46F3279"></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none 0px;"><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_112914_02.jpg">http://www.MoscowCares.com/Caturday/Caturday_112914_02.jpg</a></p></div><div>--------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" </span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>