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Sunday, 16 January 2005, 17:10 GMT

Ex-fat cat wins pet slimmer prize

Mischief the cat before he lost 5kg A massive moggy who lost 5kg in nine months was named Britain's pet slimmer of the year on Sunday.

Mischief, from Stevenage, lost 38% of his weight, slimming down to 6.3kg (14lb) after his size horrified vets.

"Mischief couldn't fit through the cat flap or even wash himself," Sharon Harding said of her six-year-old cat.

Mischief shared the award with Max, a black collie-Labrador who went from 55kg (8st 9lb) to 33kg (5st 3lb) in less than six months.

Max's owner, Maggs Gray, described the three-year-old as a "slim dog in a fat body" when she picked him up from an animal shelter.

Grossly overweight

She said he would just "waddle about" - but all he needed was an energetic owner and a new home.

"He was grossly overweight and he couldn't even do much exercise," said Ms Gray, from Milnathort in Tayside.

"He is naturally energetic and just needed the opportunity to exercise."

Max the collie-Labrador jumps over blocks of butter

On the other hand, Mischief the cat "still borders on the lazy", according to Ms Harding.

Although she says he does climb trees and "moves around a lot more than he used to".

Ms Harding, who owns four other cats, said she didn't even notice how big he was until the vets pointed it out.

"He was the only fat one. The other cats were normal. He must have been eating all the food," she said.

Talking at the awards ceremony in St James's Park, central London, she said she "couldn't be prouder or happier".

The winners were each given a year's supply of pet food, £500-worth of pet accessories and £2,000 of holiday vouchers.



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Related to this story:
Rare kittens 'one step from wild' (04 Jan 05 |  Scotland )
Cat headstone sells for £200,000 (10 Dec 04 |  Somerset )
Cameras show who let the dogs out (04 Oct 04 |  London )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Pet factfile - Dogs
Pet Factfile - Cats
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