Chubby cat weighing more than 24 pounds finally finds the purrfect home
There are countless animals in shelters who are in need of a loving forever home, and the chubby cat who listens to the name BeeJay was one of them. BeeJay was a resident of the Morris Animal Refuge in Philadelphia and was the largest cat they had at the shelter, weighing in at just a little under 24 pounds.
People didn’t want to adopt BeeJay – sometimes also referred to as Mr. B – because of health concerns regarding his weight, so the shelter staff decided to post a couple of pictures on social media hoping that there was someone out there who wanted to give the cat a chance.
Within days, pictures of the adorable cat went viral on Twitter, and BeeJay suddenly had the attention of hundreds of thousands of people.
“OMG, big boi Mr. B is a CHONK. He’s a chonk of a chonk. He redefines the term,” his adoption post description read.
The shelter staff themselves described the chubby four-footer as ‘big-boned’, and not all reactions to the online post were positive. A lot of people suggested that BeeJay was actually a bobcat because of his size and weight.
Nonetheless, the social media post managed to grab a whole lot of attention and it even got BeeJay adopted!
In fact, there were no less than 3,000 adoption applications for this chubby cat!
There was even an application from the local Philadelphia Police Department, who offered to take him in case no one else wanted to. They even joked about BeeJay joining the K9 unit on Twitter.
“Um, if he doesn’t get adopted (highly unlikely) he’s welcome to join our K9 Unit as its first Feline (he IS a cat, right?!) member (…)”
Out of all the applications, the shelter staff was able to pick a perfect family for this adorable furball.
A veterinarian was actually part of the process, because BeeJay does have some health as well as behavior issues, so it was important to match him with an understanding family who could deal with special needs pets.
“Mr. B has some health & behavior issues needing exceptional care & attention. B/c of this, we’ve placed Mr. B w/ one of our dedicated foster families w/ experience w/ cats w/ behavioral & medical issues. They haven’t just dealt w/ these issues in other cats, but embraced them,” Morris Animal Refuge posted on Twitter.
“We will continue to work with this foster family to help them work through Mr. B’s issues. While the goal is to make this Mr. B’s forever home, the family will be able to provide him with a safe and comfortable environment while we learn more about him and his needs.”
Luckily, the animal shelter staff promised to keep everyone up to date on BeeJay’s wellbeing in his new family, and it looks like the feline is doing is just fine.
“We want to thank everyone again for the enthusiasm for Mr. B. While we wish we were able to respond to everyone individually, we are a very small staff and don’t have the bandwidth to do so. We will keep everyone updated throughout his journey on our social media accounts!”
Funnily enough, due to the popularity of BeeJay, his face is even printed on t-shirts with the word “chonk” underneath it. The profits of the shirts go directly to the animal shelter. How cool is that?
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Um, if he doesn't get adopted (highly unlikely) he's welcome to join our K9 Unit as its first Feline (he IS a cat, right?!) member
— Philadelphia Police Department (@PhillyPolice) August 22, 2019