There are fat cats, and fatter cats. But this week’s Cat News Friday finds an extraordinarily fat cat, weighing in a 42 pounds.

Now there’s a 25 pound cat residing at the nursing home where my mom lives, and that’s one big kitty. My friend Mike has his buddy, who comes in at 22 pounds. But can you imagine a 42 pound kitty sitting in your lap?? OMG!!!

Here’s the skinny (pardon the pun if you must). Ironically, the female tabby, has been named Skinny by a Richardson, Texas animal shelter. A Richardson, Texas, resident reported the cat, which was late picked up by animal services. The article says that Skinny is so fat, she can’t even fit into a normal sized litter box. Does this mean that everything, including cats, grow bigger and better in Texas? Yikes!!!

For the good or the bad, Skinny has attracted a fair share of attention because of her size. But the animal shelter is holding onto her, putting her on a diet, so she will become slimmer and fitter. There’s also a fear that because of her size, people might adopt her just for a lark – to have a humongous kitty.  And just think it was only about a month ago that Venus the cat – with a face divided into two colors – was the craze on the web. Now we’ve got one fat cat who could well out-poll all the fat-cat politicians in Washington and in state across America.

It will take Skinny some time to become skinny. Unlike humans, cats can’t go on crash diets. It’s  recommended that cats only lose one percent of their entire body weight per week, and one percent of 42 would be less than a half pound a week. Quick weight loss can cause severe health issues, including hepatic lipidosis [fatty liver syndrome), which can lead to death.

For now, Skinny has been placed on a low-calorie diet and is getting some exercise.

For more on this story, follow the link below.

Shelter looking for housing for 42-lb cat
UPI.com
“With cats you have to be more careful with dieting, as too-rapid weight loss can have adverse affects,” said Yvette Pedroza, a veterinarian at the East Dallas Veterinary Clinic. “The cat can suffer from diseases such as hepatic lipidosis [fatty liver .

And if you’d like to be more like a cat, Japan’s Neurowear has introduced  Shippo – Japanese for tail – a wearable cat tail that wags when a user’s mood changes.

The device reads the wearer’s brain waves. It uses a headset, a clip-on heart monitor, and a neural smart phone app to read the wearer’s brain waves and sense his or her mood.

When a user is relaxed, the company says the tail moves softly and slowly. When a user is concentrating, the tail moves hard. And could you guess, all this can be shared on the net, letting your friends know just how cat-like you’ve become.

Read more:

The cat’s meow: New Japanese wearable gizmo mimics cat’s tail — wags to …
New York Daily News
A Japanese company is making it just a little easier for humans to act like cats. But instead of offering nine lives, Japan’s Neurowear has introduced a wearable cat tail that wags when a user’s mood changes. Called Shippo — Japanese for “tail” — the …

A horrendous story contends that Sons Of Anarchy star Johnny Lewis not only murdered his landlady to death before he took his own life, but that he inhumanly beat her cat to death

For more on this, click the following link:

Johnny Lewis DID Beat Cat To Death
PerezHilton.com
It has been CONFIRMED that Sons Of Anarchy star Johnny Lewis not only murdered his landlady to death before he took his own life, but that he inhumanly beat her cat to death. SO SAD!!! Sources say that he didn’t use a weapon to kill the cat, but ..

And now, here are some links to some other cat related stories this week:

Massachusetts Cat Euthanized After Woman Sends Pet To Vet For Flea Bath
Huffington Post
GARDNER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman says her cat went to the veterinarian for a flea bath and was mistakenly euthanized instead. Colleen Conlon of Gardner is grieving the loss of the cat, 8-year-old Lady, which she attributes to “negligence ..

Big cats have no taste for humans
New York Post
Had the feline meant business, Peachey added, he likely would have gone for Villalobos’ head or neck — like large cats do in the wild — and the 25-year-old would have been history long before zookeepers arrived 10 minutes later. “Ten minutes is a …

WATCH: Hilarious, if Inaccurate, Explanation of Why Cats Are Better than Dogs
TIME
In a video laying out the evidence that “science settles the cat/dog question ONCE AND FOR ALL,” cats are depicted as intellectual, highbrow creatures that contribute to society every day (did you know they can design logos for super PACs on a laptop?) …

Audrey Deen Miller, Texas Woman, Allegedly Shoots Husband Over Cat (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
It was then that Miller, who owns several cats and dogs, allegedly pulled out a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and shot her husband in the stomach. “The husband was trying to do something to the cat and the wife was just trying to protect her cat …

Nevada man guilty of beheading cat gets jail time and must volunteer at animal …
New York Daily News
A Nevada man accused of shooting a stray cat and beheading it with an ax was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail and community service — which he must complete at an animal shelter. Cat owner Rodney Shoop, 54, is the first person convicted under new …

Somerset cat ordinance moves forward
Delmarva Now
PRINCESS ANNE — A proposed cat ordinance for Somerset County that was revised recently still leaves euthanasia as a solution for dealing with problem cats, a measure that one resident at a public hearing Tuesday said she opposes. Jane Hawkins of …

Stray cat saves owners’ lives
Marion Star
Michelle and Rod Ramsey, of Williamsport in Morrow County, are letting their cat, Tiger, on the couch now after he awakened them last week when their house became filled with carbon monoxide. / Dave Polcyn / CentralOhio.com …

Dozens of dead cats found in van at Elgin home
Chicago Sun-Times
An Elgin man was charged with animal cruelty after police removed 40-to 60 dead cats from a construction van, officials said. William C. Tinkler, 60, was charged with misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals, violations of owners duties, and violation …

Exotic cat prowls Boonton Township
Asbury Park Press
BOONTON TWP. — Twenty-three-year-old Sarah Flatt couldn’t believe her eyes. The cat strutting on a township street Tuesday was spotted like a leopard and much larger than a typical house cat. “It was definitely not a house cat. I wouldn’t have stopped …

Cat overpopulation problem continues in Beaufort County
Hilton Head Island Packet
You can also view photos and biographies of cats on the shelter’s website at www.bcgov.net/departments/public-safety/animal-control, or on its Beaufort County Animal Shelter & Control Facebook page. Other ways to help: Volunteers are needed to play …

2 cats found, others believed rabid still missing in Henry
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Two kittens — one confirmed to have rabies — given away in the parking lot of a McDonough Wal-Mart recently have been located, as well as the mother cat, Henry County officials said Wednesday. But there were four kittens total in the litter, and ..

Ferndale to neuter feral cat problem
Royal Oak Daily Tribune
FERNDALE — Rather than trap and euthanize feral cats, the city is joining with pro-animal groups to sterilize and vaccinate them so they can live out their lives outdoors.

Internet finds world’s grumpiest cat, named Tardar Sauce
Fox News
Some people are just born angry. And so too, it seems, are some cats. Well, not quite. A cat named Tardar Sauce, or “Tard” for short, has become Internet-famous for its astoundingly grumpy face. According to Knowyourmeme.com, Tardar Sauce, now known …

Famous Alaska Cat Mayor Weathers Nasty Floods, Now Presides Over Recovery
Huffington Post (blog)
For starters, he’s a cat. Second, while he is mayor only unofficially, his name and position have traveled the world and he is now without a doubt the most famous feline in Alaska — and perhaps even the state’s most famous mayor. Even folks in …

Cat shot with arrow recovering
MyFox Tampa Bay
The video is unbelievable, showing what happened to the cat at the Riverview Animal Hospital called “Emily.” Her body had been pierced by an arrow, and yet she was still alive and kicking. “Just the fact that she had this shaft protruding from both …