In Memory of Meow
Monday, May 07, 2012 2:56PM
“Anderson” was saddened to hear that Meow, reputed to be the nation’s most overweight cat, has lost his battle with obesity and passed away this weekend. The orange and white tabby died unexpectedly after he developed respiratory complications.
“We are devastated,” said Mary Martin, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter. “We were in a race against time to get the weight off Meow before he developed complications from his morbid obesity, and we lost.”
In memory of Meow, please consider donating to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society.
To donate please go to SFHumaneSociety.org.
“We mourn Meow’s death, but we also hope his fight will encourage other people to help their pets maintain the best health possible,” added Martin. “Obesity is not something to be ignored.”
View photos of Meow on our show>>
If you would like to express your condolences, please visit Santa Fe Animal Shelter's Facebook page Facebook.com/SFHumaneSociety.
Filed Under: As Seen On The Show
Comments
I am so sorry about Meow..I love cats too. We have a big male cat that is all black. When we had him fixed at age 1year 1month he weighed 16 LBS. He has gained more, but I am not sure how much. When he was a baby he was big and my husband said he was a "Hoss". The name stuck!
So very sad. I have 25 cats so they are very dear to my heart. If I get another cat I will name it Meow in memorandum . RIP Meow
I was so saddened and agered by the death of 'Meow'. I feel many parties are to blame for the demise of Meow and Cooper Anderson's show is one of them. Could there not have been a skype introduction of meow rather than carting him thousands of miles under duress just to exploit him?
Rest In Peace Sweet Meow...............
Meow would have been safer if they would have done a tape of Meow instead of putting him through the stress of coming to your show and put him through extra stress of everyone wanting to see, pet him and see him walk. Probably all that stress of a changing environment and being more easily open to catch any germs from any people. His immune system would have been poor. I don't think anyone was thinking about Meow but rather a way to get their shelter in the news.
I found it ironic that your show which aired 5-7-12 about beautybias and the real pain it causes, began with you and your co=host Kristen Chenowith poking fun of the way the mother who overtans looked, even commenting on the appearance of her theeth. Really? Don't you see the inory? Or, is beauty bias just wrong when other people do it? shame on you.
When will Kathy Griffth be a co host ?????
i saw the episode with meow and fell in love with the kitty.im soo devestated to hear that he didnt make it. it really broke my heart. however nkudos to the shelter staff and anderson for all u did for meow and for bringing the dangers of animal obesity to light.
so sad that meow is gone..
i think it was on catster that the rest of the story was told.. that it wasnt neglect.. that the original owner had more of the story.. the age of meow was even wrong.. i hope that more people will be more responsible.dont drop off an unwanted cat or dog on someones doorstep. that has happened in our neighborhood.
Dear Mr. Anderson,
I am saddened and upset by the abusive treatment of the morbidly obese cat, "Meow". I am writing to tell you how upset many of us pet lovers are about the fact that he was featured on your show. We feel that he was exploited and abused to highlight the problem with obesity in pets.
However ignorant this elderly woman was of how to feed her cat, part of the blame for this cat's ultimate demise should be on the persons responsible for shuttling this seriously ill cat all over the place for the sole reason of exploiting him.
It was obvious to many of us animal lovers that this cat was in very serious condition. Yet, he was exposed to all types of stressful events without any regard for his health.
The extreme amount of negligence concerning the condition of this cat by people who should know better is reprehensible.
Didn't anyone stop to consider the emotional stress as well as the physical stress this cat was in?
Normal pets that are not sick and/or morbidly obese are still shocked, frightened and depressed when their owners give them away. It shows in their behavior and in their expression.
Look at the picture of this cat's face -- tell me he isn't in a state of shock!
This poor, sick cat should have been cared for quietly and privately in a loving home by someone knowledgeable of cat behavior and nutrition.
He should not have been further stressed by being exposed to traveling, strange people, places and events.
Sure, everyone needs to learn how to best care for their pets. But we don't need to put seriously ill pets on display to accomplish that! A simple photograph of this cat would have been sufficient to highlight the problem with obesity in pets.
He died from obesity, sure. But the stress of being made a public spectacle surely had to contribute to his demise.
I hope you will think about this and never allow another sick animal to be exploited abused)on your show.
At first I was mad to see how Meow's owners let her get so fat. I wondered how they could just not care/ignore Meow's weight. Then I thought to back around a year ago when my dog was diagnosed with diabetes. She was a little bit big for her size but I never thought there was a problem with her. She started having accidents in the house but I thought maybe since she was getting older she was forgetting to go outside. Then when she started drinking a lot more water we started taking it away from her because she would continue to have accidents. Long story short, she got really sick one day, and when we took her to the vet we found out she had diabetes. Looking back, the signs were all there but I never thought my slightly chubby dog would ever get diabetes.
Please be careful with your pets! Walk them regularly and monitor their food intake. Even a couple extra pounds can be devastating for them. If I remember correctly, my dog lost abut 3-5 pounds before she was diagnosed. They said that we would be like me (who is 5'5 and weighs 120) to lose about 10-12 pounds. I don't think we necessarily realize just how much weight affects our pets.
Thank you for introducing "Meow" to us thru 'Anderson' He was really a beautiful cat. I saved all the photos you posted on this web site and will remember "Meow" always.
I am so sad to see that Meow has passed! It is very touching to see how much Mr Cooper loves animals as seen by this show and the one with the little garbage rescue dog.
awwww, I am so sorry to hear of this.let this be a lesson to alll those tht chose to hv pets n cant care enough to feed them properly n take care of them. RIP, meow.
awwww, I am saddened by the news. I was jus*****ching anderson holding meow on TV the other day. I am an animal lover. I have three cats at home. The bright side is that meow is in the kitty heaven. RIP, meow.
This poor cat died from being separated from its owner. Hope the owner didn't die!! lol !!