44-pound cat's owner says it hurt to give him up
Published: Friday, August 01, 2008
The Press of Atlantic City: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/190/story/219539.html

The former owner of a 44-pound cat says it broke her heart to give up the tubby tabby and two other pets.
Donna Oklatner told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for Friday's newspapers that she lost her home to foreclosure. So she moved in with a neighbor along with Powder, a second cat named Puff, a rabbit named Honey and a dog named Cody.

Then, the 65-year-old owner and Cody moved into a friend's condo and the other animals were taken in by friends and family.

"These animals are my children," she said. "It's breaking my heart to give them up."

Still, she says the arrangement worked until last weekend when Powder's caretaker went out of town and sent Powder back to Oklatner. But her new host couldn't be around the cat because of asthma.

So Oklatner says she asked some other friends to take the cat to an animal shelter.
But they did not deliver him. The next thing she knew, the cat was picked up as a stray.

The cat has received all sorts of attention this week - including an appearance on "Live with Regis and Kelly" because of his weight. The fattest cat on record weighed in at just under 47 pounds.

Oklatner said the cat was not fed table scraps - as some have speculated - but rather Fancy Feast cat food.

She said she's been hurt by a note taped to her door with a clipping of one of many news articles about Powder and the words, "Shame on you."

Some 200 people have applied to adopt the 10-year-old feline sensation from the Camden County Animal Shelter.