A CHUBBY rescue cat from the Cramer Cat Rescue Centre dubbed ‘Fat Dave’ has shed 3kg to win a Royal Canin Healthy Weight contest, writes Rebecca Perry.
Dave weighed in at an obese 9.3kg, double the average weight of a healthy cat before he was put on a diet by his new owner Jessica Fletcher.
She said: “He is certainly very ‘food-focused’, so we put him on a diet.”
However, after his diet was complete Dave’s weight still plummeted.
He was admitted to Willows Veterinary Centre in Solihull and was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid.
Jessica added: “It can be managed using medications, diet, surgery or radioactive iodine therapy (RAI), which was my preferred option because it offered the best chance of an outright cure.”
Jessica was also mindful that it avoids daily medication and regular blood tests that Dave would dislike.
She said: “I wanted to avoid a lifetime of living with a bad tempered, grumpy, fat cat with a grudge.”
Isuru Gajanayake, head of internal medicine at Willows, led the treatment providing diagnostic tests including blood tests, urine tests and blood pressure measurements in order to calculate the correct dose of radioactive iodine.
Isuru said: “Everything went very well.
“A follow-up test a month afterwards showed his thyroid disease was now under control.”
Dave regained some of the weight he had lost and is now back to a healthy weight.
