He is probably one of the world’s fattest cats. The Russian cat Smulan has had a little too much of the good stuff and now the 17 kilo miss has gone to a rehab center where he will go on a strict diet and hard training.
– As soon as he has lost weight, we hope to find a responsible family for him, says Galia Morie at the Matroshkim cat home.
Breadcrumbs, soup, whiskey and meat. It is the diet that the Russian cat Kroschik, which means precisely “crumb”, lived on for several years.
Smulan, who was born homeless in the Russian city of Perm, was cared for by staff at a hospital in the city. There he had to live in the basement for several years and was fed breadcrumbs, soup, meat and whiskey by an employee.
But even if the idea was good, it was not a healthy life down in the basement. Smulan weighed 17 kilos when the volunteers at a cat shelter in the city took pity on him and placed him in a rehab center. It was also the volunteers who gave him the appropriate name.
– The hospital manager became worried when Smulan stopped walking, says cat home manager Galia Morie, to TV4 Nyheterna.
Tried to escape – but got stuck
Now a strict diet and hard training await – a plan that Smulan didn’t quite like. Some time ago, he tried to escape – but didn’t get very far when he got stuck in a shoe rack at the rehab center, says the staff who caught him red-handed.
– At first he was scared and tense, but recently he started purring and trusting us, says Galia Morie.
The cat shelter’s hope is that Smulan will lose between 70 and 150 grams a week and that in a few months he will be able to be adopted and live a long and happy life. Since coming to the center a few weeks ago, he has already lost two kilos.
– So far no one has wanted to become his owner, but as soon as he has lost weight we hope to find a responsible family for him, says Galia Morie.