Ottawa TikTok cat that lost 16 lbs inspires overweight cat sanctuary

An Ottawa cat who went viral and lost 16 pounds has inspired a rescue and sanctuary for other overweight cats. CTV’s Peter Szperling reports.

An Ottawa cat who has morphed into a social media star after slimming down from 43 pounds has inspired a rescue and sanctuary for other overweight felines.

Axel Biggie Smalls, now known as Biggie Smalls, has lost around 16 lbs. (about 6.8 kg) since Kristine Seguin first rescued him earlier last year. “He was four times the average size of cat,” she told CTV News Ottawa.

“I was initially fostering him, and he could not walk out the bathroom door. He could not walk barely to his litter box. All of his food and things had to be brought to him. He was just in rough shape. He was in a lot of pain.”

She eventually adopted him and through diet and exercise, she has helped him shed weight – down to just over 26 lbs. (about 12 kg) over a period of about a year and half. “And he’s still got about another eight to 10 to go. But we’re getting there,” she says.

His weight loss journey has not only gotten attention but has also inspired Seguin to create the Big House Sanctuary and Rehab, a not-for-profit animal rescue for “extremely overweight cats,” located in rural west Ottawa.

“So many shelters reached out saying, ‘do you know any rescues or places that we can send these severely, like, extremely overweight cats?’ And there was nothing in the world I could find. And then I thought, why not try to create something like this?” she says.

Seguin built the sanctuary, which currently houses five cats. “What we do is we just take them in, we help get them on a weight loss journey, we meet all of their medical needs,” she says. “A lot of these cats get euthanized in shelters because it’s cumbersome. It’s a lot for somebody to take on a cat like this, so we remove those barriers by getting them on a successful diet plan. We meet all their medical needs, what medications, surgeries, things they need, and then they’re ready for adoption and those barriers are dropped. So, people are more open to taking on one of these cats.”

Funding for the Sanctuary comes from donations, according to Seguin.

She says her goal for the sanctuary is “Just to help those ones that don’t get the opportunity to be helped. I love chunky cats and seeing them get healthy.”

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