Meet Tillie, quite possibly the fattest cat in Dunedin
'She has a fat cat waddle'
The Mish started as a way to bring you longer, in-depth reporting about Dunedin and its people. Through The Mish, you’ll have read about a jailhouse lawyer turned bestselling author, the saga of Cr Lee Vandervis’ parking ticket and the end of my grudge against Six60.
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Sorry Tilly.
I tried to pick you up, and I failed. You were heavier than you look.
You deserve better.
On Friday I spent an enjoyable hour at Cat Rescue Dunedin, they do great stuff.
But I was there with only one thing on my mind: Tilly.
PHOTO: EDITH LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Weeks earlier she had come through the same door, with Debby Foster surprised to see two people carrying a cat carrier.
She soon found out why.
Inside was Tilly – an 11.6kg behemoth.
When Foster took her to the vet the following day, she found she couldn’t lift the cat carrier with one hand.
Tilly was so large she struggled to clean herself, with her rear covered in dags, while her fat prevented the vet from detecting her heart beat.
“She was the largest cat our vet has ever seen.”
The vet used a chart – numbered one (too thin) to nine (too fat) – to determine her body shape.
“She was a 10.”
PHOTO: EDITH LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY
“Every girl wants to be a 10.”
Since then, Tilly has gone on a weight-loss journey and lost just over 500g – the equivalent of a block of butter.
PHOTO: EDITH LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Tilly was originally adopted from the SPCA, weighing just 6.9kg in 2020. Her notes from that time came with the vet recommending she shed two kilograms. Instead she almost doubled in weight.
“She must be under all that a relatively small boned cat.”
Foster tried to source a harness to see if she could take Tilly for some much-needed exercise, but cat harnesses were too small and the dog harnesses too heavy.
Cats with a regular frame like Tilly should be 5kg, Brenna Gould, a Cat Rescue Dunedin vet nurse, said.
“I can quite confidently say she is double of what she needs to weigh.”
“People’s idea of a healthy looking pet isn’t a healthy looking pet, generally we keep them overweight . . . you need to see more of a waist, you need to feel the ribs.”
PHOTO: EDITH LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Tilly, who was cared for by an elderly woman, was on a weight management food when she arrived.
“She must have been overeating, possibly some human food, we suspect,” Gould said.
Tilly had shed weight since being at the Caversham-based charity, but put on weight when her meals were increased 5g. That increase quickly stopped, and she was enjoying one wet food pouch and one ration of dry food each day.
It was important her weight loss occurred gradually, as she faced potential health issues – including diabetes and arthritis.
“She is surprisingly agile given how fat she is,” Gould said.
“She is determined, but she has a fat cat waddle.”
Foster said Cat Rescue Dunedin planned to keep her at the premises until her diet was sorted and she had lost weight.
The charity offered supportive adoption, which means they cover vet bills or specialist food for some adopted cats.
“With Tilly, the condition would be that we would have a lot of input into what she is eating and what she is doing . . . and keep her weighed all the time.”
Despite the challenges she faced, Tilly “just loves all the cuddles and attention”.
That attention is expected to increase with her weight-loss journey to be documented by Cat Rescue Dunedin.
I also spent a bit of time on Friday checking out Dunedin’s Spookysoft Games, and its latest release Animal Tracks. It’s a free game that encourages players to make music using the sounds of native animals, on TVNZ’s HEIHEI platform.
Here’s an example:
On bass we have the kākāpō, on drums the southern minke whale, and up front on leading vocals: the tūī.
Now you can perform as your favourite New Zealand wildlife supergroup, but making some sweet music with some of the country’s most unique species.
Electronic musician Stef Animal loves to make music out of unusual sounds, and that interest has led to the Dunedin-based company, making a music-making machine featuring a diverse range of talent.
Rachel Anson, left, and Stef Animal, of Spookysoft Games.
The diverse line-up of musicians included an elephant seal, a cicada, a sea urchin kina, and a paddle crab.
“We were trying to go for a wholesome conservation approach to appeal to kids with animal sounds,” Rachel Anson, who was tasked with researching those sounds, said.
“This was the best job I ever had. I’d make a coffee and put my headphones on and research sounds.”
That included the aforementioned paddle crab, whose claws and legs make a zipping noise when rubbed together, or a leopard seal that made a sound like a “ray-gun”.
“It was unreal.”
Sounds were provided by scientists, filmmakers and wildlife enthusiasts.
Those sounds were then added to their game – Animal Tracks – developed for TVNZ’s HEIHEI platform, thanks to funding from NZ On Air.
Animal said users – children and adults alike – did not need any knowledge of music theory to play.
“Some animals make sounds which are good for making actual tunes out of, and some animals don’t.”
“That is the fun thing, because organic sounds are full of surprising harmonics and details.”
It was hard to capture that “noise and chaos” with a synthesiser.
“You can’t fake that.”
Animal said many species didn’t make the initial cut, but there was room for growth in the game.
That includes some musicians performing their own works using the game.
The pair hoped that children would be inspired to learn more about animals, and learn music.
“We are recruiting on both levels,” Animal said.
The game, which took six months to develop and features art by Devon Anna Smith, is available in te reo Māori and English.
You can look at it here.
Awesome talent in Dunedin, and now to an awesome human. Here is a post from the city’s favourite protester:
At the time of writing Dunedin is up to ten mayoral candidates, with big names including Lee Vandervis and Sophie Barker throwing their respective hats into the ring.
You can read that list here. It is more interesting to see who is not on that list, same for the Otago Regional Council, which does include someone running under the banner ‘Slime The Nitrate Monster’.
Until next week… and go the Nuggets!
I guess it's a change from Extinction Rebellion for Jenn.