37-pound tabby has a new home

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Biscuit, the 37-pound tabby, has a new home.

Ed and Lisa Pyatt of Eureka, who already share their home with another fat cat named Max, are planning to bring Biscuit home next week.

“We adopted Max from the Humane Society about five years ago, and he needs a buddy,” said Ed Pyatt. “Biscuit will be a perfect friend for him.”

Workers at the city shelter publicized Biscuit’s story after he was surrendered to the shelter for the second time. They feared he would never get a home because of his size. Most male cats weigh about 10 pounds, so Biscuit is more than three times larger than he should be.

But after the cat’s story ran in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wire services and websites picked it up and he was featured in newspapers across the country as well as England and Australia. More than 110 offers poured in to adopt Biscuit, from places as far away as Arizona, Ohio and Canada.

A representative of CNN personality Anderson Cooper inquired about flying Biscuit to New York for a show. And an official with Banfield Pet Hospital, a national veterinary hospital chain known for being in PetSmart stores, has pledged to give free wellness care to Biscuit for one year.

Pyatt said he had been unaware that Biscuit was an Internet sensation.

“We had no clue, but now we’re finding out that he is kind of a big deal,” Pyatt said.

Teresa Gilley, lead animal control officer, said they considered adoption offers only from local residents because they didn’t want to have to ship Biscuit anywhere. In fact, they declined the offer to be on Cooper’s show because the flight would be too stressful on the cat.

Gilley said everyone who met the Pyatts thought they would be a good fit for the cat, she said.

Pyatt, 42, said he and his wife weren’t able to have children, so they dote on their animals.

“Max pretty much rules the roost at our house; it’s a big house, and he has beds all over the place,” he said. “We’re going to take good care of Biscuit too.”

Jenny Phillips, a veterinarian at Banfield Pet Hospital of St. Charles, examined Biscuit on Monday and said he already has dropped 2 pounds.

“He does appear to be in pretty good health minus his weight,” she said.

Phillips said it will be important for Biscuit to be monitored by a veterinarian regularly as he trims down.

“Cats in particular can get very, very sick if they lose too much weight too fast because their livers are not able to handle digesting fat stores,” she said.

She estimated it will take Biscuit more than a year to get back to a healthy weight.

Pyatt said Max, who weighs 20 pounds, has a weight issue, too, and they have been working to help him slim down. They are committed to helping Biscuit do the same.

“We’re going to be the last stop for this cat,” he said. “We’re already attached to him.”