The reason for a chunky cat's weight gain has been exposed, with the crafty feline caught on camera stealing his siblings' food.
When Melodee Coffman adopted Huckleberry two years ago, the grey tabby was "tiny." However, his weight has rapidly risen in recent months, despite his owner's efforts to help him stay trim.
"He is currently 17-18 pounds," Coffman, 23, told Newsweek. "All three of my cats are known for being a glutton, but Huckleberry is the worst."
The deli manager first noticed Huckleberry gaining weight after adopting kittens Ellie and Oliver this year.
"I originally only went to pick up Ellie, but I saw her brother and I had to get them both," Coffman said. "I couldn't separate the twins."
It's been a challenge to keep Huckleberry and the twins from switching bowls and ensuring that they eat the right meals. Nevertheless, Coffman was stunned to discover that Huckleberry has actually been stealing their meals.
After catching Huckleberry in the act, Coffman began supervising her three cats while they eat. In a clip shared to her TikTok account (@liumellie), Coffman redirects Huckleberry away from one of the other bowls after he not-so-subtly starts eating from her plate.
"I just realized he's so fat because he finishes his first and steals the twins' dinners," she explained in the post's caption. "How am I supposed to fix this."
This isn't the first time Huckleberry's enormous appetite has landed him in trouble. Coffman previously caught him eating out of the trash and sneaking into the pantry, ripping open bags of pasta and munching on one-minute rice.
Despite their slimmer frames, Oliver and Ellie are also gluttonous by nature, teaming with Huckleberry to get extra snacks.
"Now I have three of them and they all work together," Coffman said. "I've had to put child safety locks on the trash cabinet and the pantry doors."
Fellow cat owners found the footage hilarious and relatable, with the video receiving 1.5 million views and more than 230,000 likes.
"He has become consumed by greed," joked aj.
"The way he looks at both bowls wondering who has the most," said hubbagabba.
"They never be defending themselves, like that's YOUR FOOD BRO," commented Literally Me.
"It's a tabby cat problem my fat cat does it too," said erin.
"That's always the dynamics between lé fat cat and the skinny ones," said Kuliman.
"I have to hide my older cats bowl every few days or else her younger sister will find it and eat it along with her own food," said honey.
"I spoon feed one of the cats so she will eat more slowly and give time for her sister to finish," said Dais2603.
TikTokers gave several suggestions for curbing Huckleberry's behavior, from purchasing automatic pet feeders to giving the cats their meals in separate rooms.
"He's lost weight since I started supervising him," Coffman said. "I bought those slow feeders and I'm just going to keep an eye on him. I also put a cat exercise wheel on my birthday list."
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