NJ group helping cat get back into shape

SEA ISLE CITY, NJ -- A south Jersey cat named Sprinkles has gained a noticeable amount of fame over her sizable figure.

It's a sad tale as to how she became so big, but an animal group is hoping to get her back in good shape.

Sprinkles is a domestic short-hair who weighs in at an incredible 33 pounds.

After being surrendered when her owner's home was foreclosed on, she's now in the hands of the nonprofit group SOS - Sea Isle City Cats.

This fat cat was too big for the county animal shelter to handle and was moved to SOS in a dog carrier.

Stacy Jones Olandt from Sea Isle City Cats tells us, "One of our volunteer members has a 23-year-old son who works locally and he carried her up the steps for us - we couldn't lift her."

Sprinkles was a mess when SOS got her - terrible fleas, ear mites, and well, there's no argument that she's overweight.

Stacy says, "Her little feet should be together and they're grossly wide apart from being hardly able to stand she can now waddle a little bit."

If she were a regular cat, Sprinkles would weigh in at about 10 pounds. What she actually weighs is the equivalent of a human tipping the scales at six or 700 pounds.

Sea Isle City Mayor Len Desiderio described Sprinkles as, "Huge. Huge. It's a big cat, and I've proclaimed it to be See Isle's Top Cat."

The SOS group suspects Sprinkles may have been used to eating table scraps. She doesn't have much interest in canned food.

"So we were thinking she probably would like a Big Mac, chicken nuggets," Stacy said.

Sprinkles will eventually go up for adoption, but right now is on a diet of four cans of cat food a day. The weight-loss has to be gradual.

Maggie Sgalio from Sea Isle City Cats tells us, "It's gonna take a good year, year and a half to get her back to where she should be."

Sprinkles veterinarian joked that if she loses weight and is bothered by excess skin, he will happily throw in a tummy tuck.