Please Adopt Barsik, This 41-Pound Chungus of a Cat

If you’re still salty about losing the sweepstakes to adopt Bruno the “extremely high maintenance” cat, fear not. A new chonky boy has entered the fray.

Meet Barsik, an “extremely obese” cat who weighs in at a staggering, almost unfathomable 41 pounds, according to the Animal Care Centers of NYC. That puts him at a near-world record weight, though it’s worth mentioning that Guinness World Records discontinued the category of “heaviest cat” in 1998 to “deter people from over-feeding their pets,” which seems like the right call.

World-record contender or not, Barsik is certainly a big, big boy. Social media posts from the ACC noted that the 5-year-old feline “is too big for our housing” and had to be kept in his own makeshift enclosure. He’s the largest cat to be brought to the organization in its 20-year existence, according to the New York Daily News.

As noted on Barsik’s nascent Instagram page, he’s currently being fostered in the care of Anjellicle Cats Rescue.

“Once any medical issues are sorted out and we have a vet-supervised weight loss plan in place, we will likely make him available for adoption once he is steadily losing weight and at a safe pace,” Angelique Iuzzolino, Barsik’s foster mom, told VICE via email. “This may be a month or two, we just aren't sure yet. Our priority is his well-being and [we’re] not in a hurry to rush him out the door. We do know that any adopter will have to be dedicated to sticking with his plan and helping him get to a healthy weight.”

If you want to eventually adopt this absolute unit, I’d keep a sharp eye on his Insta feed for updates. In the meantime, you can donate towards Barsik’s continuing care, and check out the many other animals at Anjellicle and the ACC that are in need of help.

We believe in you, big chungus cat. Just look at how well Bruno has been doing lately!

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