Cannonball! Fat cat goes swimming to shed pounds
11 years 2 months ago #1
by riada
Holly, a 13-year-old cat who weighs 18 pounds, has been swimming in the pool at the Olde Towne Pet Resort in Dulles, Va., in an attempt to lose weight.
The owner of Holly the cat is hoping some regular exercise in a swimming pool might help change the hefty feline's favorite show from "Maury'' to "The Biggest Loser.''
Weighing in at 18 pounds, the 13-year-old cat has been taking regular swims since May of last year at the Olde Towne Pet Resort in Dulles, Va., while wearing a life vest. The pool is usually only used by dogs for exercise, mobility and therapy, but Holly has joined the action and occasionally shows the dogs how it's done by kitty-paddling.
"It's the only physical activity this cat has,'' Olde Towne publicist Mayra Ruiz-McPherson told TODAY.com. "Otherwise, she is a one thousand percent couch potato.''
Holly's owner and Olde Towne employee Dani Lawhorne was trying to figure out a way to get her obese kitty some activity when she gave the pool a try.
"It was more an experiment than anything,'' Ruiz-McPherson said. "(Lawhorne) saw that the cat didn't get too upset when she gave it baths, so she thought, 'I wonder what would happen if I placed her in the pool?'"
Holly's owner is hoping the cat can drop six or seven pounds to get down to a healthy weight from her current 18 pounds.
The cat comes to the pool about every other week, according to Ruiz-McPherson. The rest of the time, she enjoys watching Maury Povich's daytime talk show and moving as little as possible.
"When I was talking to the owner, she said what the cat loves to do is lay in blankets all day long and watch TV, and her favorite show is when Maury Povich does the paternity test,'' Ruiz-McPherson said.
Obie the obese dachshund is at the center of custody battle
Who exactly should be taking care of a morbidly obese dachshund named Obie? A judge in Oregon may make that decision.
Obie's foster mom Nora Vanatta says he's down to 62 pounds today, from 77 in August. Obie is at the center of a doggie custody battle between his foster mom, Nora Vanatta, and the woman who runs the dachshund rescue organization that originally saved him, Jenell Rangan. Vanatta wants to keep Obie, and Rangan wants him back.
Their once-cooperative relationship disintegrated in recent weeks as Obie skyrocketed to fame on television and the Internet. The matter has become so contentious that a hearing about Obie’s fate is set for Monday in Washington County Circuit Court.
Back in August, Obie was so astonishingly overweight that he could barely move. The 5-year-old dog weighed 77 pounds, and the elderly couple who owned him in Puyallup, Wash., relinquished him because they realized they could no longer care for him. Rangan’s organization, Portland-based Oregon Dachshund Rescue, stepped in and offered to care for the rotund pup.
Rangan herself was overwhelmed caring for her elderly father at that time, so she sent out a call for a volunteer who might be able to provide a temporary foster home for a severely overweight dachshund. Vanatta offered to help — and was astounded when she saw Obie in person for the first time.
“I had no idea what to expect,” Vanatta posted on Facebook in late August. “I thought a basset hound would show up. ... Well, he arrived Saturday, Aug. 18 and to my astonishment he IS a dachshund and he actually weighs 77 pounds.
“He is extremely sweet and loving,” Vanatta continued. “He was obviously loved and is a joy to work with.”
Vanatta created a Facebook page for Obie and called it “Biggest Loser, Doxie Edition.” As she posted oodles of irresistible photos of Obie and chronicled his weight-loss regimen, support came pouring in from dachshund lovers in more than 20 countries. Hundreds wrote messages of encouragement, and many made monetary donations toward Obie’s care.
Before long, Obie became a media darling, and made an in-studio appearance on TODAY in New York on Sept. 12.
During her TODAY appearance with Obie, Vanatta told Al Roker that she expected to spend at least a year helping Obie slim down.
“We are putting him on a high-protein, high-fiber, low-energy diet,” Vanatta told Roker. “Our goal is 1 percent weight loss a week. So far he’s lost about 2 pounds a week, which is perfect.”
Vanatta brought Obie to New York in September and appeared on TODAY with Al Roker and veterinarian Dr. Andrew Kaplan. Meanwhile, back in Oregon, Rangan was growing increasingly frustrated with Vanatta’s care of Obie. She didn’t think the dog was healthy enough to be traveling across the continent for media appearances.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court, Oregon Dachshund Rescue alleges that Vanatta, a former veterinary technician, has not been providing Obie with proper veterinary care for his obesity. Instead, the rescue organization says Vanatta has been “exploiting the dog for the sensationalistic promotional value of its unusual obesity” and “earning money off of the dog’s public exhibition.” The complaint seeks the immediate return of Obie to Rangan.
Vanatta has turned to her thousands of supporters online in advance of Monday’s court hearing. As of Friday morning, an online petition asking Rangan “stop fighting to take Obie away from his home” had almost 12,000 supporters.
In a status update on Obie’s Facebook page, Vanatta described the way Obie has bonded with her and her two other dogs, a 9-year-old black Labrador retriever and a 5-year-old dachshund.
“It is very upsetting that Jenell is using doxie-saving money to take him away from me,” Vanatta wrote. “She clearly doesn’t have his best interest in mind and is only interested in him now that he is famous.
“I am going to fight for (Obie) and I need your continued support. I am not in a position to spend money on a lawyer but it is just not right to make Obie adjust to a new home now. I am asking for your continued support to help Obie stay with me.”
FOLLOW-UP:
After months of back and forth in a doggie custody battle, Obie the obese dachshund finally has a permanent home. Foster mom Nora Vanatta will get to keep the portly pooch, whom she’s helped diet down from 77 pounds to a healthier 49.
“Everybody is thrilled,” Vanatta told TODAY.com. “It’s time to move on and focus on Obie, continuing our message and his journey.”
Vanatta said she reached a settlement in the case on Wednesday, just a few months after Washington County Circuit Court in Oregon allowed her to keep caring for Obie until the dispute could be resolved. That October decision denied a request to return Obie to Oregon Dachshund Rescue’s founder Jenell Rangan.
The saga started when Portland-based Oregon Dachshund Rescue let Vanatta give the morbidly obese Obie a temporary foster home. But after Obie became an Internet sensation with a much "liked" Facebook page and an appearance on TODAY, Oregon Dachshund Rescue filed a complaint claiming that Vanatta had been “exploiting the dog for the sensationalistic promotional value of its unusual obesity.”
Obie’s (former) foster mom said Thursday that she couldn’t share specific details of the settlement. Rangan of Oregon Dachshund Rescue confirmed that the settlement took place.
"We're both going our own ways, but that's OK," Rangan told TODAY.com "That's what we needed."
Vanatta said she's eager to put the legal battle behind her.
“We’re really excited to move on,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t want to put more time and energy into that.”
So what’s next for Obie? According to Vanatta, skin-reduction surgery and a little community service.
“He’s so great with people,” she said. “I’m hoping to get him out to meet with kids and educate people on obesity prevention.”
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem.
Cannonball! Fat cat goes swimming to shed pounds was created by riada
Holly, a 13-year-old cat who weighs 18 pounds, has been swimming in the pool at the Olde Towne Pet Resort in Dulles, Va., in an attempt to lose weight.
The owner of Holly the cat is hoping some regular exercise in a swimming pool might help change the hefty feline's favorite show from "Maury'' to "The Biggest Loser.''
Weighing in at 18 pounds, the 13-year-old cat has been taking regular swims since May of last year at the Olde Towne Pet Resort in Dulles, Va., while wearing a life vest. The pool is usually only used by dogs for exercise, mobility and therapy, but Holly has joined the action and occasionally shows the dogs how it's done by kitty-paddling.
"It's the only physical activity this cat has,'' Olde Towne publicist Mayra Ruiz-McPherson told TODAY.com. "Otherwise, she is a one thousand percent couch potato.''
Holly's owner and Olde Towne employee Dani Lawhorne was trying to figure out a way to get her obese kitty some activity when she gave the pool a try.
"It was more an experiment than anything,'' Ruiz-McPherson said. "(Lawhorne) saw that the cat didn't get too upset when she gave it baths, so she thought, 'I wonder what would happen if I placed her in the pool?'"
Holly's owner is hoping the cat can drop six or seven pounds to get down to a healthy weight from her current 18 pounds.
The cat comes to the pool about every other week, according to Ruiz-McPherson. The rest of the time, she enjoys watching Maury Povich's daytime talk show and moving as little as possible.
"When I was talking to the owner, she said what the cat loves to do is lay in blankets all day long and watch TV, and her favorite show is when Maury Povich does the paternity test,'' Ruiz-McPherson said.
Obie the obese dachshund is at the center of custody battle
Who exactly should be taking care of a morbidly obese dachshund named Obie? A judge in Oregon may make that decision.
Obie's foster mom Nora Vanatta says he's down to 62 pounds today, from 77 in August. Obie is at the center of a doggie custody battle between his foster mom, Nora Vanatta, and the woman who runs the dachshund rescue organization that originally saved him, Jenell Rangan. Vanatta wants to keep Obie, and Rangan wants him back.
Their once-cooperative relationship disintegrated in recent weeks as Obie skyrocketed to fame on television and the Internet. The matter has become so contentious that a hearing about Obie’s fate is set for Monday in Washington County Circuit Court.
Back in August, Obie was so astonishingly overweight that he could barely move. The 5-year-old dog weighed 77 pounds, and the elderly couple who owned him in Puyallup, Wash., relinquished him because they realized they could no longer care for him. Rangan’s organization, Portland-based Oregon Dachshund Rescue, stepped in and offered to care for the rotund pup.
Rangan herself was overwhelmed caring for her elderly father at that time, so she sent out a call for a volunteer who might be able to provide a temporary foster home for a severely overweight dachshund. Vanatta offered to help — and was astounded when she saw Obie in person for the first time.
“I had no idea what to expect,” Vanatta posted on Facebook in late August. “I thought a basset hound would show up. ... Well, he arrived Saturday, Aug. 18 and to my astonishment he IS a dachshund and he actually weighs 77 pounds.
“He is extremely sweet and loving,” Vanatta continued. “He was obviously loved and is a joy to work with.”
Vanatta created a Facebook page for Obie and called it “Biggest Loser, Doxie Edition.” As she posted oodles of irresistible photos of Obie and chronicled his weight-loss regimen, support came pouring in from dachshund lovers in more than 20 countries. Hundreds wrote messages of encouragement, and many made monetary donations toward Obie’s care.
Before long, Obie became a media darling, and made an in-studio appearance on TODAY in New York on Sept. 12.
During her TODAY appearance with Obie, Vanatta told Al Roker that she expected to spend at least a year helping Obie slim down.
“We are putting him on a high-protein, high-fiber, low-energy diet,” Vanatta told Roker. “Our goal is 1 percent weight loss a week. So far he’s lost about 2 pounds a week, which is perfect.”
Vanatta brought Obie to New York in September and appeared on TODAY with Al Roker and veterinarian Dr. Andrew Kaplan. Meanwhile, back in Oregon, Rangan was growing increasingly frustrated with Vanatta’s care of Obie. She didn’t think the dog was healthy enough to be traveling across the continent for media appearances.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court, Oregon Dachshund Rescue alleges that Vanatta, a former veterinary technician, has not been providing Obie with proper veterinary care for his obesity. Instead, the rescue organization says Vanatta has been “exploiting the dog for the sensationalistic promotional value of its unusual obesity” and “earning money off of the dog’s public exhibition.” The complaint seeks the immediate return of Obie to Rangan.
Vanatta has turned to her thousands of supporters online in advance of Monday’s court hearing. As of Friday morning, an online petition asking Rangan “stop fighting to take Obie away from his home” had almost 12,000 supporters.
In a status update on Obie’s Facebook page, Vanatta described the way Obie has bonded with her and her two other dogs, a 9-year-old black Labrador retriever and a 5-year-old dachshund.
“It is very upsetting that Jenell is using doxie-saving money to take him away from me,” Vanatta wrote. “She clearly doesn’t have his best interest in mind and is only interested in him now that he is famous.
“I am going to fight for (Obie) and I need your continued support. I am not in a position to spend money on a lawyer but it is just not right to make Obie adjust to a new home now. I am asking for your continued support to help Obie stay with me.”
FOLLOW-UP:
After months of back and forth in a doggie custody battle, Obie the obese dachshund finally has a permanent home. Foster mom Nora Vanatta will get to keep the portly pooch, whom she’s helped diet down from 77 pounds to a healthier 49.
“Everybody is thrilled,” Vanatta told TODAY.com. “It’s time to move on and focus on Obie, continuing our message and his journey.”
Vanatta said she reached a settlement in the case on Wednesday, just a few months after Washington County Circuit Court in Oregon allowed her to keep caring for Obie until the dispute could be resolved. That October decision denied a request to return Obie to Oregon Dachshund Rescue’s founder Jenell Rangan.
The saga started when Portland-based Oregon Dachshund Rescue let Vanatta give the morbidly obese Obie a temporary foster home. But after Obie became an Internet sensation with a much "liked" Facebook page and an appearance on TODAY, Oregon Dachshund Rescue filed a complaint claiming that Vanatta had been “exploiting the dog for the sensationalistic promotional value of its unusual obesity.”
Obie’s (former) foster mom said Thursday that she couldn’t share specific details of the settlement. Rangan of Oregon Dachshund Rescue confirmed that the settlement took place.
"We're both going our own ways, but that's OK," Rangan told TODAY.com "That's what we needed."
Vanatta said she's eager to put the legal battle behind her.
“We’re really excited to move on,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t want to put more time and energy into that.”
So what’s next for Obie? According to Vanatta, skin-reduction surgery and a little community service.
“He’s so great with people,” she said. “I’m hoping to get him out to meet with kids and educate people on obesity prevention.”
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
11 years 1 month ago #2
by riada
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem.
Replied by riada on topic Cannonball! Fat cat goes swimming to shed pounds
37-pound tubby tabby Biscuit in need of home
ST. CHARLES, Mo., Fri Mar 01, 01:58 PM
At 37 pounds, Biscuit is about the right weight for a 4-year-old - human, that is.
A St. Louis-area animal shelter is trying to find a new home for the sweet tabby with a sweet tooth.
Biscuit's salad days were spent pigging out, and now at roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, he's restricted to about a cup of diet food per day.
His first owner, a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats, brought him to the St. Charles Animal Control shelter about a year ago because she could no longer care for him, Teresa Gilley, the shelter's lead animal control officer, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ( bit.ly/15VQRvf).
"She didn't mean the cat any harm," Gilley said. "I just think she didn't know any better."
Another woman took him in but had to return him about a week ago because her new apartment doesn't allow pets, she said.
Gilley said the tubby tabby isn't crazy about his new low-calorie diet, but he has begun adjusting to it. When he arrived, Biscuit could only take a few steps before lying down and panting, but now he's showing increased energy.
"The other day I went into the office, and he was up in the chair," Gilley said. "So he was able to jump pretty high."
Biscuit is neutered and is believed to be about 4. Gilley said he's easygoing and loves being petted.
"He's sweet and loving, and if you talk to him, he'll talk back," Gilley said.
Any prospective owner would need to keep Biscuit away from the gravy and on a strict diet.
ST. CHARLES, Mo., Fri Mar 01, 01:58 PM
At 37 pounds, Biscuit is about the right weight for a 4-year-old - human, that is.
A St. Louis-area animal shelter is trying to find a new home for the sweet tabby with a sweet tooth.
Biscuit's salad days were spent pigging out, and now at roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, he's restricted to about a cup of diet food per day.
His first owner, a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats, brought him to the St. Charles Animal Control shelter about a year ago because she could no longer care for him, Teresa Gilley, the shelter's lead animal control officer, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ( bit.ly/15VQRvf).
"She didn't mean the cat any harm," Gilley said. "I just think she didn't know any better."
Another woman took him in but had to return him about a week ago because her new apartment doesn't allow pets, she said.
Gilley said the tubby tabby isn't crazy about his new low-calorie diet, but he has begun adjusting to it. When he arrived, Biscuit could only take a few steps before lying down and panting, but now he's showing increased energy.
"The other day I went into the office, and he was up in the chair," Gilley said. "So he was able to jump pretty high."
Biscuit is neutered and is believed to be about 4. Gilley said he's easygoing and loves being petted.
"He's sweet and loving, and if you talk to him, he'll talk back," Gilley said.
Any prospective owner would need to keep Biscuit away from the gravy and on a strict diet.
Nor but in sleep findeth a cure for care.
Incertainty that once gave scope to dream
Of laughing enterprise and glory untold,
Is now a blackness that no stars redeem.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.