Eastern Mo. tubby tabby moved to permanent home and sanctuary

ST. CLAIR, Mo. -- A fat cat from Missouri whose owner turned him over to a shelter now is living at a sanctuary for hard-to-place animals.

Biscuit weighed 37 pounds when he was taken to the St. Charles, Mo., shelter in suburban St. Louis. Media reports of his weight and homelessness prompted an outpouring of sympathy -- more than 110 people offered to adopt him. He was placed with Ed and Lisa Pyatt of St. Louis suburb Eureka, Mo.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that Biscuit didn't bond with the couple's other cat and attacked it.

The couple and the shelter contacted Rhonda Stephens, who runs the Shannon Foundation retirement home and sanctuary for hard-to-place animals.

Biscuit will live there permanently. The facility has 75 animals -- cats, horses, pigs, goats -- but Biscuit is separated from the others.

Teresa Gilley, lead animal control officer for St. Charles, said the adoptive couple hated to give up the cat.

"They went above and beyond," Gilley said. "They didn't want to get rid of him. They just loved him. We felt this was the best possible place we could have placed Biscuit."

Meanwhile, Biscuit's diet is paying off. As of Thursday he weighed 33.2 pounds -- still morbidly obese but nearly 4 pounds less than when he first arrived at the St. Charles shelter. His goal weight is 14.8 pounds. Stephens hopes he can reach the goal by next year.