Famous fat cat helps riders raise money for charity

[CatWoman]

To help raise money for the Special Olympics, Moose Riders from the Smyrna-Oakdale Moose Lodge have brought in a local celebrity - a heavy hitter you might say.

This celebrity, though, can be found on neither the small nor big screen and is not an athlete, politician or a CEO. Sam, rather, is of the four-legged and furry variety, but does hold a rather dubious distinction for which he has received a modicum of fame.

Owned by Smyrna resident Paul Webster, Sam is believed to be the largest house cat in the world, weighing in at 45 pounds and measuring 34 inches around the stomach and 32 inches from his nose to the tip of his tail. The record, for a male tabby now deceased, is 47 pounds with a 33-inch waist and 38 inches long. The Guinness Book of World Records no longer recognizes the record because of incidences of owners dangerously overfeeding their cats for a chance at the record.

Webster said that when he got Sam from a pet store in Raleigh, N.C., about 10 years ago, he was a normal-sized kitten. In fact, said Webster, Sam was even small enough to sit in a coffee mug.

"He just keeps on growing and growing and growing," Webster said.

http://www.mdjonline.com/articles/2006/03/25/95/10213846.txt