SAFE Haven for Cats has become quite proficient in helping overweight kitties find their healthy shape. It all started with a little big cat called The Colonel. This story is about an equally chunky kitty named Verne. Monster Mash, as he was called, was 25 pounds when he was surrendered to the Wake County Animal Center. The kind folks there reached out to local rescues to help with his rehoming. SAFE Haven said “yes”, and Monster was brought into our care on January 2, 2020. He was renamed to Verne to give him a fresh start.

Although he was overweight, Verne was quite the looker and quickly became a shelter favorite! Our shelter director, Patti, took him in as her office supervisor, a job he took very seriously. He enjoyed being the center of attention, lazing around Patti’s office (especially on her desk), and taking victory strolls around the shelter while flaunting his freedom to the other cats. After about two months of adoration, he was officially ready for adoption.

He quickly caught the eye of a very special adopter. You may be familiar with a little celebrity named Tucker aka the Oak City Kitty. Tucker became famous in downtown Raleigh after his dad started to let him take strolls around the block as a form of exercise. Tucker was a chunky kitty too. Sadly, he passed away in November of 2019. When his dad saw Verne’s photo on our website, he couldn’t resist meeting him. It was love at first sight.

Verne was renamed to Chester and quickly made himself at home with his new parents and kitty siblings, Moonbat and Flounder. He is now one of the stars of Tucker’s Oak City Kitty Instagram page. Moonbat and Flounder make the occasional appearance as well. It’s clear that Chester is the star now! He continues Tucker’s legacy as most lovable chunky, grumpy kitty of the Triangle area. You can follow his antics on Instagram at @oakcitykitty.

Meet the cats like Verne who could be your star!

At SAFE Haven for Cats, we see all cats as beautiful. Sometimes an extra-handsome kitty comes along that needs a little help getting fit. One such cat: Colonel.

Adopted from SAFE Haven in September 2016, Colonel developed some litter box issues and, sadly, his adopter could no longer keep him in his apartment. He re-entered our shelter in August 2018 weighing 26 pounds. We quickly developed a weight loss program just for him!

Our shelter director, Patti, quickly made him her office assistant. He was put on a strict, wet-food-only diet. Volunteers and staff were happy to give him lots of attention and play time to help him move a little more. Weekly weigh-ins quickly showed us that his special program was working!

Little by little, every week his weight went down. To celebrate his weight loss wins, he was allowed to take victory walks around the shelter’s adoption area. He was happy to make sure that the other cats took notice of his freedom. He even helped us pick a winner for our Hamilton tickets giveaway and promoted our Stars and Stripes clinic promotion!

When Colonel reached 20 pounds, we knew it was time to let him find his fur-ever home! In late-January 2019, Colonel found his family. A recent update from his adopter tells us that Bubba (his new name) “is doing great! He has completely taken over the house and has all three of our dogs in check.”

We love getting updates from our adopters, especially when they include details like these!

Meet the cats like Colonel looking for their special home.