‘Liberated from his girth’: Cat that was once 42 pounds loses over half of body weight

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Patches, the cat surrendered to Richmond Animal Care and Control weighing 42 pounds, has slimmed down over half of his body weight.

He now weighs less than 20 pounds. His large build won the hearts of thousands on social media -- as well as his owner, Kay Ford.

Ford adopted Patches on April 19, 2023. She was motivated to do so after she received a text from her daughter that read, "this is your moment."

"On that day, I came around the corner and gasped when I saw how truly big he was, because the pictures did not do him justice," Ford said.

For Ford, Patches' 27-month weight loss journey has gone by both quickly and slowly, but it's not over yet.

Ford forged a close relationship with Dr. Meaghan Godwin at Wellesley Animal Hospital. Patches managed to lose over 20 pounds through calorie count, having smaller meals throughout the day and increased exercise.

When asked if Ford could picture Patches at the end of his weight loss journey, Ford laughed and said, "no." She said she constantly wondered what he was going to look like.

"His tail, when I first got him, looked so short because it had a lot of fat on it," Ford said. "And people would ask, 'do you think that his tail is naturally short and stubby? It seems unusually short,' -- and as he lost weight, indeed he actually lost weight from his tail."

The biggest change for Ford was in Patches' face and neck.

"When I first got him, he was just like a sack of sugar or flour or potatoes or something. He really was a loaf and he had no neck. He really didn't," Ford said.

Despite Patches' size, Ford could always tell he was a confident cat, but said he has become more rambunctious, determined, spunky and exploratory as his mobility has increased.

Patches after weight loss (Photo: Kay Ford)

"I don't think there's anything that he can't do. He will just look at me frequently like, you just try to stop me," Ford said. "Of course, I wouldn't unless he's trying to eat somebody else's food, indeed, then I would."

Patches Journey, a Facebook page run by Ford, keeps 51,000 followers in 83 different countries updated on his weight. She also shares tidbits of his personality interspersed between weigh-ins.

"The Facebook page has been such a place of positivity," Ford said. "That wouldn't have happened without the genuine love and care of incredibly decent people."

If Patches could speak, Ford said he would likely thank her and say "something to the effect of, life is so fun now."

Kay and Patches (Photo: Lindsey West, 8News)