Wanda, a six-year-old house cat once gravely overweight, will be ringing in year 2020 new and improved 鈥� and quite a bit leaner 鈥� after a year of healthy eating and exercise, thanks to a Prince George veterinarian.
This year was one of great transformation for Wanda, who was adopted by Dr. Jennifer McLachlan, a veterinarian at Ospika Animal Hospital, in December of last year after being surrendered to the Prince George Human Society due to complications from her diabetes.
At 30 pounds, Wanda was so overweight she couldn鈥檛 groom herself and struggled to walk due to her wrists sinking from carrying the extra fat, the hospital said in a Facebook post at the time.
鈥淪he was only able to take a few steps at a time and her joints were terrible overextended due to the extreme weight they were under.鈥�
But McLachlan, who has been known to take in geriatric animals 鈥� including another diabetic cat named Chubby Chicken Burger, built a special walker to help Wanda move more easily. The feline was also placed on a strict diet to help maintain her muscle while she shed the pounds.
In an update on Wanda鈥檚 weight loss posted on Facebook last week, the animal hospital happily announced the cat has lost nearly 10 pounds, or one-third of her body weight.
鈥淲hile Wanda is certainly not an athlete, she is now able to move around the house on her own and can go down the stairs,鈥� the animal hospital said. 鈥淪he has started to show some personality and it鈥檚 clear to everyone that she is feeling so much better!鈥�
The average domestic cat weighs from seven to 25 pounds, depending on the breed.
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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