Ulric the 30-Pound Fat Cat From England Goes On Diet

His diet starts tomorrow, OK?

A 30-pound cat named Ulric, dubbed England's fattest feline, has entered a pet weight-loss competition in a desperate effort to slim down, according to a story published Wednesday in the Daily Mail.

Sneaking into kitchen for biscuits in between meals, hogging his sister Ulla’s meals, and slacking off from exercise are to blame for Ulric’s weight gain, which is equal to that of a three-year-old toddler.

At first, his owner Jan Mitchell, 68, from Dorchester, Dorset, was at a loss for how to handle Ulric’s ballooning frame. She told the Daily Mail, “We got Ulric and his sister Ulla in 2006 when they were three-months-old. I don’t remember him being particularly abnormally large, but by the time he was 15-months-old he was 1st 3lbs.

‘We couldn’t really work out why he had got so fat - his diet only consisted of dry cat food and water, nothing elaborate. We had to move Ulla’s food up onto the kitchen worktop to stop him eating that too."
The first time she realized Ulric had a weight problem was when she was sitting in the living room and the door came flying open from the force of Ulric’s weight. "We had to lock him in the conservatory at night otherwise he would come crashing into the bedroom," she said.

Despite Mitchell’s concern for his health, Ulric doesn’t seem to give a cat’s tail about slimming down. “He is a lovely cat but he’s just very greedy and lazy, he doesn’t do any exercise and spends all day lying around,” she says. “I have even tried to take him for a walk on a lead [sic] but he didn’t want to know.’

Enter British animal charity PSDA’s annual Pet Fit Club (think Celebrity Fit Club but for the animal kingdom) a six-month diet and exercise competition for “porky pets.” And although Ulric is the fattest cat among this year’s contestants, he’ll have some stiff competition from the 21 participants. There’s Mariah, a big-boned bunny who weighs six pounds. Described as a “diva”, she’s cutting back on carrots to help “reduce her curves.” Then, weighing in at 40 pounds is Benji, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He’s a sneaky speed eater who had pilfered food from other family pets for years before his owners noticed. And finally, Ziggy, a 22 pound black cat who spends his time begging for food and napping. Last year's winner was a 45 pound Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Jack who was so fat, he lacked the energy to bark.

The cat that loses the most weight will receive a year-long supply of free Hill's diet food. No pain, no gain, Ulric!