In May 2017, Mitzi, an eight-year-old stray cat, arrived at Woodside Animal Sanctuary in Plymouth, Devon. At that time, she weighed 17 pounds.
“Like all cats, it seems she was very successful at adopting people,” shelter manager Helen Lecointe told BBC. “No one owned her, but everyone was feeding her.”
Soon, the sanctuary posted a photo of Mitzi on their Facebook page. Because no one has ever seen such a big, fluffy, fat cat like Mitzi ever, the photo went viral that newspapers and media companies dubbed her as “Britain’s fattest stray cat.”
Mitzi’s photo definitely gained a large audience from all over the world, who all want to apply for adopting her.
However, the shelter was looking for a local who could adopt Mitzi, so that she wouldn’t get tired and stressed from travelling too far.
A local was first chosen to adopt Mitzi, but it’s not too long before they returned Mitzi back to the shelter, because of “a change of circumstances and couldn’t keep the cat,” according to a report by Animal Channel.
Mitzi went to her second owner, but again, it was not too long before Mitzi could be spotted in the shelter again after her second human got sick and returned her.
“It’s very unusual for a cat to be returned this many times, but sadly, she’s just been so unlucky,” Lecointe said.
For the third time, Mitzi was adopted by someone who took care of her deeply and even went to great lengths just so Mitzi could trim down her belly! The cat lost six pounds with her third owner – from 17 to 11 pounds real quick!
Sadly, Mitzi’s third owner passed away in August 2018, and so the cat returned to the shelter again.
In February this year, a family member of one of Mitzi’s former owner contacted the shelter and said they would like to take Mitzi in and explained they wanted to do so since Mitzi’s owner passed away, but could not because they were still a renting a house back then.
Mitzi will live with them in April when the family’s finalized their new home.
“She’s such a sweet cat,” said Lecointe. “We really hope she’s found her fairytale ending.”
