Cat that Weighs as Much as a Child Seeks U.S. Home

At 37 pounds (16 kilograms), Biscuit the cat is about the right weight for a 4-year-old — human, that is.

A U.S. animal shelter is trying to find him a new home.

Biscuit's first owner was a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats. Now he's roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, and he's restricted to about a cup of diet food per day.

His owner brought him in 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 newspaper.

"She didn't mean the cat any harm," Gilley said. "I just think she didn't know any better."

Gilley said the cat has begun adjusting to his new low-calorie diet. 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."