Yeah, Im not suprised by its death. The owners should've took care of the cat better and managed its weight.

Awe, RIP Kitty.

I know how hard it is to loose your beloved pet kitty. Ours passed last year. She was 25 and had kidney disease (she lived three years longer than our vet predicted, nor was she the oldest kitty at our vet office. That cat was almost 30).

P/S our cat was 20+ pounds and gained weight eating 'diet' cat food...

Angela LD:

Just thought you'd like to know...According to Guinness World Records, the oldest known cat is Creme Puff, who died in 2005 at the age of 38. There are other documented cases of cats living into their thirties.

38? are your serious? i think i have the most difficult tabby in the world. i bet he gives it a good run.

Really? I'll have to Google that. Most people don't believe us when I say we (my parents and I) had five cats between us and they all live to be over 20. The vet told us the average age for cats is 10 to 15 years...

Tab, My Missy (the 25 year old) had a cantankerous attitude. She HATED men (my Dad, Son, the ex., the vet It didn't matter) until she turned about 19 or 20, when she came down with, what the vet called, Feline Dementia (Did you know animals suffer similar disease as humans, especially when they age? Neither did I). In other words, she became a tad nutty. She was inside, so she never had shots (although she did receive vet visits, obviously), she didn't eat 'people' food until she was 'older' and she hated using cat boxes, she hated being brushed (and she was part long haired Angora that knotted easily). If you brushed her teeth, you had to wrap her in a sheet like a burrito or she clawed you (and she meant to hurt you, too!)

I love feisty, whether it's people or animals...I miss her daily.

To Tab & Angela LD...Yes, I'm serious. Just look it up for yourselves. When I read Angela's first post I decided to do a little research, and I was surprised by what I found.

Angela, my cat Marty is usually sweet, but I have to wrap him up in a towel to give him meds because he will get nasty then. I call it "The Burrito Treatment."

;)

are you on drugs?? what else did squeakers and you talk about today ??

Amen!!! many moons ago I would make sure where me keys and purse were in the event of an emergency. Now, I know where they are Xiomara Nicole and Paradise John (PJ)!!! I can't imagine just opening my door and letting them go out, and never looking back.

I agree Luther, people dispose of their pets are selfish & cruel. Bad character & lazy, with no feelings. There are so many alternatives. My pets I saved from the streets live like kings & I would never abandon them, much less give them up to a city pound. I will donate as well & am supporting the aspca to rescue abused animals, & next year lobby for laws passed to punish these losers.

you know tish, that sounds all wonderful. however try this: i moved into a house 6 years ago which was in a teritory of a previously owned stray. i say this judging by the flea collar and that she has been fixed. you look at her and it is obvious that she has had a very hard life. she is very independant and a true survivor. i feed her and take her to the vet. in the winter, she has the run of the house or one that i put on the porch. she will not stay long indoors.

the place i live in is talking about trapping stay cats and who knows what. like i said, she will not stay indoors. i could have a chip put in her, but the shelters in the area do check cats for them. what is the point? they check dogs though.

while it is true that pet owners who do not accept the full responsibilty of their pets are like you said "loosers". sometimes it is not that easy.

oh really? thousands a humans on this planet die every day, and only god knows how many millions of wild animals and killed and eaten by other wild animals every day. this is not even news at all. what absolute nonsense this article is, and all these absolutely ridiculous postings i'm reading here are just as insane.

That's your opinion, Cheeseburglar.

No one asked you to read the article, or to respond with your unsolicited opinion.

Your narrow-mindedness has failed to note the family has established a foundation to help others with their own needy pets. Clearly you don't think animals have needs.

Are you by any chance a sociopath? You seem oblivious to other people and their feelings...

#1 He was FAT and "abandoned"(if so then how did they know his owner lost her home to foreclosure) #2 who is going to read 400 to 500 letters in a couple of weeks and decide Duuuuuuh!!!!!!!!! He was taken care of and if a foundation came out of it to help others to keep their pets if even better.............

I mean ...what is the big deal 22lbs. or 44lbs....and he needed a home................

R.I.P. Prince Chunk.

Someone once rescued a barely weaned, long-haired tuxedo kitten from a boy who was abusing it in an alley, and I ended up with it. My Marty is now nine years old, and he is like a kid to me. He's spoiled rotten, and strictly kept indoors. He's never meowed a lot, but makes a lot of weird little noises called chirrups. I wouldn't trade him for anything. I certainly wouldn't toss him out to fend for himself. So cruel. :(

Do you really know what you would do if you were made homeless?

sweetsuetu: #1, the original owner of Prince Chunk was located. They found out where the cat came from. #2, the reviewing of pet adoption applications is actually an alarmingly simple and straight-forward process, especially when a shelter uses a standardized questionnaire form. It's a pretty quick task to "rank" each of the applications, based on what the shelter believes is best for the animal. I'm sure it took them less than a couple of weeks to look through them all, and they were probably receiving them on a daily basis, too...not all at once. Yes, I agree...he WAS taken care of, and some really good things came of it all. That's great! But my issue with the adoption of this cat was how it ended up going home with an employee of the shelter, and that there wasn't a single other applicant that was deemed more worthy than the employee. With 400-500 applications, that points to favoritism in the adoption process. And I can tell you that favoritism is severely frowned upon in pet adoption circles. Favoritism can kill. I know. I've seen it happen.

sweetsuetu: Yeah, 22 or 44 pounds...he was an obese cat either way, and his actual weight didn't (shouldn't) mean a thing when it comes to getting him into a good home. But my beef was with the apparent "inflation" of the cat's weight by the shelter that picked him up, because the timeline just doesn't support the notion of that cat going from 44 to 22 lbs. between the times of pick-up and adoption. And a shelter that mis-represents the facts in order to milk the situation for some PR is definitely a shelter that has some ne'er-do-wells running it. On top of that, they let the cat go to one of their own, even with 400-500 applications stacked up. So I think you missed my points. Did you get them this time?

Dee, did you read the article? Did you understand what the adoptive owners were doing? Did you read about the foundation that they had started? How much donated money and supplies they have received and handed out to pet owners who are finding that caring for their pets has become a hardship? They didn't reap any personal monetary gain or "fame" from "letting this cat die...a painful death." They loved him and cared for him. I don't have any details -- and I don't think you have any either -- of how they cared for the cat, but are you insinuating that they intentionally maintained the cat's obese state for their benefit? Please tell us that's not what you meant. The cat's health problems started with the previous owner, and the poor care he was getting because of a bad situation (financial distress, home foreclosure, etc.). His adoptive owners decided to actually turn that around, and do something to help their fellow man. Aren't they to be commended for that? I've done similar things with foundations that I helped start. What have you done?

I think you are blowing this out of proportion. Yes, he may have been overweight; but, if that was the reason for the adoption, than hurray!! Whatever it takes to get them adopted.

proper nutrition and exercise would have saved this cat. Based on a calico I had as a child, this cat would have had at least 7 years more, if it had been better maintained. Someone needs to go down for neglect.

He died in his sleep- How painful is that? Either people like you just do not know how to read or else comprehend what you read!!!

wrong Dee

Dee, you've made a judgmental and idiotic statement based on what seems to be a misunderstood reading of this article. Go directly back to third grade and take reading and comprehension again. This time pay attention.

I would think that you'd want to read about something that was not about dying and destruction. There has to be some time for other things in our lives; that is, other than rallying against the TSA and voting on to be scanned or not to be scanned, that's the question.

Why don't you start a foundation for something GOOD in life?????We know there is BAD, we hear it all the time. Good gives us hope that we will survive.....

If we spent our time thinking about all the things you mention, we'd all die prematurely of stress instead of obesity like the poor kitty!

I believe there is enough money in this world to take care of BOTH humans and animals - if we ever find a way to control our greed and politics. The humane societies seem to do a better job of providing help than our "people charities." I would like to know more about the foreclosure - did the Prince eat the mortgage money??? RIP Chunk!

The good that came from Mr.Prince is awesome. The foundation is also helping people who really love their pets & will have peace of mind because of the help. Think of the kids who are in love with their pets and are scared they might lose them. This world is a mess, but this is such good news. This foundation rocks!

Thousands dying of chlorea in Haiti, Korea ready to go to war again, terrorists still bombing and killing, and THIS is what 'you complain about making new'???

Geez. go death trolling somewhere else, why don't you?

halseyjr61

Chaos is playing with my babies Pepper, Picasso, Sager and Cinnamon! All who led happy and spoiled, no loved lives with me.

thanks Chyna Doll. I hope one day we will be able to see our loved ones again and I'll see you there.

You are absolutely correct on your statement about the epidemic of obesity in this country Zep. I lost my career with the airline industry and have not been able to find a job in the aerospace industry despite training completion so I found the only job available in this area which is a fast food restaurant.

I have never seen such overindulgence in people's eating. From the moment we open the doors at 10A to closing we see a continual stream of people who come in (mainly drive-in as people are too lazy to get out of the car) and order so much food. I can understand ordering a good size meal at regular eating hours (ie breakfast 6a-8a, lunch 11a-2p and dinner 5p-9p) but we see a continual stream of people eating major meals at all hours of the day. We do not stop for more than 10 minutes before another comes thru drive thru or inside ordering all this junk food. It seems to me that the average American, if there is a hint of hunger, has to eat excessively. Most of our customers are out of shape, overweight individuals who order way too much food and as I said before this happens at hours outside normal meal hours.

I joke with fellow co-workers as I will tell them that Im contacting the 'Oprah Winfrey' show to give them a story of what we see day in and day out. This is because between the hours of 2p thru 4 or 5p we see a majority of women drive thru ordering burgers, fries, chicken nuggets and other foods and I am talking full complete meals! You figure that 2p-5p would be "quiet" as dinner hour is usually around 5p-8 or 9p but these women are gourging themselves at times not known for complete meals. I suspect that these women eat all this crap then when family dinner time happens they ruse their husbands and eat a light salad or smaller portion of a meal to look as if they are completing their diet.

Im serious! Ive never seen such a group of pigs in my life who gourge themselves and I have a first hand look into why Americans are such out of shape, tubby, weeble looking people who cant seem to control themselves when it comes to eating. I, myself, can handle being a little hungry until dinner time or whenever but a vast majority of Americans who are the slightist bit hungry must consume piles of food until the dinner bell rings.

Im sorry if this sounds a little strong but I witness this and wish I could videotape an average day at this fatfood restaurant I work at and you will all see what Im talking about and why everyone is so fat.

halseyjr very well said.

And I thought I spoiled my cats.

You are a doll--my daughter adopted a three year old Shih tzu from the shelter. They were made for each other--God set it up--now as granny ( I have gobs of human grandchildren and great grandchildren) but I don't have the guts to say on here how this dog rules my life. Also as a pet lover and owner I am going to be surrounded with bunches of cats and dogs when my time comes!!!!!!!

Florida gator,

have you considered feeding him a raw diet? i've read about cats eating a raw diet and end up not needing insulin.

look at the ingredients on Science prescription diet. they are not healthy for your pet and some are considered not for human consumption. anything with corn, gluten, and by-product is not good for their bodies. check out this website for more info: http://www.catinfo.org.

if you can't feed a raw diet, the next best thing is low-carb, no grain, canned food. my cat eats Wellness chicken and turkey canned food.

good luck and thank you for being such a great cat parent.

A cat can reverse diabetes. I have done it for a stray kitty I found. He went from 2 shots a day to one to none. It is easy.....Here is how by a book I read...Stevia,mixed with organic chicken & a little raw shredded zucchini Book- Keeping your Pet healthy the Natural way by Pat Lazarus. book has info from vets. all over the country. Other book ....Keeping your cat Healthy the Natural way. Best books I have ever bought!

kittycat2010 and TISH, thank you for your valuable information. I will check into those website and books. My boy does eat a raw diet - lizards, frogs, toads, birds, bugs, bunnies. In his earlier years he would kill a baby bunny and leave its headless body on the porch. One day I went out and there were TWO headless baby bunnies laying side by side on the porch, the way he arranged it! It sickens me and I do try reasoning with him about it, but he IS a cat. We have never recovered a head. Two years in a row, birds built a nest and laid eggs in an area just a foot away from my car. In both cases, the baby birds fledged at nighttime, when I was asleep, and the outcome was heartbreaking for me. He never messed with them, even after they hatched and peeped all the time. Only when they left the nest to try their wings did he get ahold of them. Nowadays he is into frogs. He bites them in half and then the ants get them. One day he is going to find a buffo toad, and it will be all over. Also, we have a giant alligator in the backyard lake, I am always concerned about that. The cat is not allowed near the water, but he has figured out that I will come running whenever he goes there, so he goes there a lot lately. Y'know, I think he is spoiled!