Dear PAWS Friends,

I just wanted to give everyone at PAWS an update on our favorite fat kitty Walter. After fostering him for a month, my boyfriend Brandon and I have made it official and have adopted Walter as our own for good. We couldn’t be happier with him!

He was never shy when we brought him home, he adjusted very well. He explored curiously and decided the apartment was up to his standards.

The only things he is afraid of are Brandon’s guitar and trumpet! Not the noises they make, just the instruments themselves. He loves the amount of space he has at our place, and the fact that he is an only cat is a bonus for him. He has already made this his home. He has a favorite spot on our couch, marked with an abundance of his white fur.

He may not be the most affectionate cat, but we are growing on him, too. He greets us at the door and waits outside the bathroom door while we are in the shower. He curls up at our feet at night and will nap beside me on the couch. As long as he is not in one of his feisty moods, he loves to be pet and scratched, particularly the inside of his ears. If he is in a feisty mood, as some may remember, it’s good to watch out! We are controlling some bad biting habits with toys for him to chew on instead of our fingers. But when he’s in a really good mood, we can cuddle him all we want!

Of course, he’s most affectionate when he’s hungry. But we are keeping up the diet set for him. He’s only lost a couple ounces so far, but it’s a slow process. We have toys for him to play with (he’s decided my hair is one) and try to keep him engaged as long as possible. But he’s a cat that likes to do things on his own time.  Like me, he is quite stubborn and doesn’t like to be made to do things he doesn’t want to do. Like wear the harness we were given to him around in or be weighed on the scale. It’s for his own good, though, and he is getting better at playing for longer periods of time. He really likes the wand toy and a catnip mouse, but of course his favorites are simple things like a paper bag or an unattended box for him to crawl in.

I took him to the vet today for his check up. Both the veterinarian and vet assistant said he was the largest cat they’d seen there! Other than his weight, though, they said he seems healthy. A bit of tartar on his teeth, but it can wait. She was most concerned with getting him down a couple pounds first. He was very well behaved at the vet clinic, even wore his harness. It took some getting used to, but it went better than the first time we put it on him. Maybe soon we can get him walking around in it!

That’s all the news we have on our tubby tabby for now. I’m sure I’ll talk about him all the time when I am at PAWS. We’d like to thank everyone for the wonderful work they put in to taking care of cats like Walter. The three of us are very grateful.

Merry Christmas!

Shelbi, Brandon, and Walter