Fat cat gets new home, diet

Prince Chunk, the beige-and-white cat from New Jersey who attracted public attention with his considerable girth, has landed on his paws, so to speak.

The 10-year-old feline was placed with an adoptive family yesterday after blood work at the Camden County Animal Shelter came back normal.

"This is a fairy-tale ending," said shelter director Jennifer Andersch. "The only physical problem with this cat is that he is overweight."

Andersch said Chunk's new family, who were not identified, was picked out of 500 others who applied to adopt him. The family was chosen because it owns a cat and dog, mirroring what the chubby puss was used to in his prior home.

"It was not an easy selection," Andersch said. "What impressed us most with the family was their current background with animals. Their pets are well-cared-for and loved."

Chunk made news when his former owner, who called him Powder, was able to find a home for his slimmer sibling, but couldn't find one for the tubby tabby - who tipped the scale at 44 pounds, just two pounds shy of the world record. The former owner had to give up the cats because her home was being foreclosed on and she couldn't afford to feed them.

Powder wandered the streets before ending up at the Camden shelter, where handlers, dubbing him Princess Chunk, took a photo and released it to the public. That led to appearances on Live with Regis and Kelly, Today, Good Morning America, Fox News, and MSNBC, and the discovery she is a he.

In his new home, Chunk will get a little quiet after all the hoopla. But he will also be placed on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet so that he can slowly slim down to "somewhere in the high teens."

"He will be on a diet for well over a year to be close to that," Andersch said.