40-Lb. Rescue Cat Patches Down 15 Kilos One Yr After His Adoption – See the Transformation! (Exclusive)

Patches first made headlines in April 2023, when he arrived at Richmond Animal Care and Control weighing 40.3 kilos

Patches is making wholesome progress on his weight reduction journey and is having fun with his new mobility an increasing number of every day.

The cat has misplaced over 15 kilos since his adoption on April 19, 2023. Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) posted a Facebook photo of Patches, then 40.3 kilos, on the identical day, on the lookout for an adopter for the pet.

“Did you get up as we speak and say, ‘Let’s undertake the most important cat anybody has ever seen?’ If so, now we have the cat for you. 😻,” RACC wrote within the submit. “Meet Patches; all 40.3 POUNDS of him! He’s been regulated to a really particular food regimen, is on an train plan, and may be very candy.”

The information of the fats cat unfold rapidly and ultimately reached Kay Ford, who was contemplating adopting an obese pet. When her daughter despatched her a photograph of Patches, Ford knew she needed to contact RACC to submit an adoption utility.

“I allow them to know {that a} particular food regimen was nothing new to me. I had a Yorkie that was on chemo for 3 years and had an excellent high quality life,” Ford told PEOPLE in April 2023.

RACC agreed Ford was an excellent match for Patches and selected her because the adopter.

“I didn’t get up on Wednesday morning and assume to myself, ‘Do I need to undertake the largest cat?’ But by 4 o’clock within the afternoon, we have been home,” Ford added final 12 months.

PEOPLE caught up with Ford and Patches to see how the feline felt one 12 months into his weight reduction journey.

Related: Rescue Cat Nicknamed ‘Thicken Nugget’ Takes Up Swimming to Help Him Shed Extra Weight

Since transferring in with Ford, her different cat, Wellesley, and her senior Yorkie, Bella, Patches has discovered fame. Ford started a Facebook page for her new pet shortly after his adoption so others may keep up to date on his well being. After a number of days, the web page Patches’ Journey had over 10,000 followers, in response to Ford. Today, the web page has greater than 47,000 followers from 78 nations, eagerly awaiting “Weigh-in Wednesdays.”

Weigh-in Wednesdays are when Ford weighs Patches on a scale at home and shares the outcome. On April 17, the Weigh-in Wednesday earlier than his April 19 adoption anniversary, Patches tipped the scales at 25.47 pounds, over 15 lower than his weight when he arrived at RACC.

Ford celebrated the cat’s success and adoption anniversary with a particular anniversary t-shirt design of Patches. All the proceeds from the shirt have been donated to animal welfare efforts.

Ford celebrates Patches’ success day by day, cheering him on as he surpasses extra milestones.

“He’s doing nice. He actually is,” Ford tells PEOPLE of Patches. “He is only a regular pet.”

Patches nonetheless cannot absolutely groom himself or bounce up on the mattress, however he has conquered almost each different impediment due to the mobility he has gained whereas shedding pounds.

“I could not management my feelings the primary time he jumped up on the radiator cowl,” Ford remembers. “It was a few days earlier than Christmas, and I keep in mind saying, ‘It’s a Christmas miracle,'” she provides.

Now, Patches routinely hops on the radiator cowl and on high of window perches to absorb the views. Over the previous 12 months, the cat has began taking part in with toys and his feline buddy, Wellesley.

Related: Curious Cat Learns to Turn on Sink Faucet. Owner Wakes Up to House Flood, Falling Ceiling (Exclusive)

“It simply occurred the best way it was purported to occur. He was capable of obtain almost each milestone that he wanted to realize to grow to be an actual cat, not a Macy’s Day Parade balloon,” Ford says.

As Patches has for the previous 12 months, he’ll proceed to observe his caloric consumption. His vet at Wellesley Animal Hospital set a aim weight of 20 kilos for the feline. Once Patches reaches that weight, Ford and the vet will reassess Patches’ well being objectives.

Patches made nice strides due to Ford’s dedication to sustaining the cat’s food regimen so he may shed extra pounds at a wholesome charge. For different pet homeowners wanting to assist their furry associates shed extra pounds, Ford recommends “endurance, diligence, and dedication.”

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“This would by no means have occurred if I had given in to whining,” she says. “The hardest factor isn’t giving into the begging. What I say to individuals is, ‘Get it in your head that as a substitute of asking you for meals, they’re asking you for consideration and to assist them grow to be a more healthy cat or canine.'”

Ford additionally advises that pet mother and father develop a pet food regimen plan with their vets so homeowners have secure pointers to observe.

Patches and Ford look ahead to one other 12 months of sharing the cat’s adventures along with his followers. Patches’ Facebook web page took off greater than Ford ever anticipated to, and she or he says the net group has been “significant” for her.

“We have been 100% optimistic from day one,” Ford says, including that Patches’ Journey is a heat place with out offensive feedback or merciless snark.

“I snigger so laborious within the quiet and luxury of my very own home all on a routine foundation as a result of they are saying a number of the funniest stuff persons are sharing on the web page,” Ford explains.

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