HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- Patches, the once 40-pound cat Kay Ford adopted from Richmond Animal Care and Control more than two years ago, has reached his first weight loss goal of just under 20 pounds.
Ford wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning that she was a "big ball of emotions" after the white and gray cat finally weighed in at 19.98 pounds. This follows Patches' weigh-in at roughly 20 pounds since mid-May.
"Patches is as chill as ever," she wrote, referencing the photo of the 8-year-old Mechanicsville feline perched atop the scale. " I could not have pictured him in a better pose than this for such a significant moment. Confident, secure, totally at ease."
She credited Patches' strict diet and veterinary care, since he was adopted in late April 2023, in helping him lose more than half his body weight.
"My amazing vet, Dr. Meaghan, is extremely passionate about cat nutrition," Ford recently told the national outlet, The Dodo. "She helped me create a plan. She was able to give me a calorie count and what kind of food would be best for him."
Ford said she is proud of his progress and grateful for all the support. But she is also looking to Patches' next weight loss goal: 16 pounds.
More than 51,000 people follow Patches' weight loss journey through the Patches Journey Facebook page.
"We are overwhelmed by the number of people who share with us both publicly on the page and privately how much light following Patches’ Journey page brings to you. Patches' Journey continues," Ford wrote.
Ford told The Dodo that when she first adopted Patches, he could only "take two or three steps and then he'd have to lie down."
The size of him took my breath away," she said. "I don't know what his backstory is, but he is too sweet of a cat to not have been loved."
Ford said the feline's "personality was completely encased in his obesity."
"In the very beginning, he would only lie down on the floor and eat," she said. "So I made a commitment to get him moving by committing myself to doing at least 10 minutes of time, five times a day of play, whether it was a stick toy or a laser pointer; any kind of movement whatsoever was necessary."
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The Mechanicsville feline previously spent 12 weeks weighing in at 23 pounds.
"I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or run around the neighborhood screaming 22.85!" Ford wrote on Facebook in late October.
Ford said she has noticed a major difference in Patches.
"I am not making this up when I say there has been a shift in this boy," she said. "He is much more active. He is upstairs, downstairs, up on ledges and as you’ll see with our midday post, he’s no longer relegated to the floor due to his size. He is liberated!"
While Ford acknowledged she does not have any idea how long it will take, she said she "can see the numbers 20 clearly on the horizon" for the 8-year-old white and gray Domestic Shorthair.
Ford adopted a 25-pound cat named Remy from an animal shelter in Ohio in mid-September. The cat is also on a similar weight loss journey as Patches.
She also fostered an orange cat named Tigger who weighed in at nearly 23 pounds in late March. That cat has now been adopted and "is doing so well."
"I couldn’t have been more pleased for Tigger to land in such a terrific home or more pleased to have had the good fortune myself to meet Martha and get to know her," Ford wrote on Facebook in late June. "Our orange boy is... settling in and living a nice quiet uncomplicated life. Exactly the way he would want it!"
Ford also has another cat, Wellesley, who has similar coloring to Patches and Remy. She also has a 6-pound dog named Bella.
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