Axel the cat gains social media following on weight loss journey

An Ottawa cat has morphed into a TikTok star, as he’s slimming down from weighing 43 pounds.

Yes, a 43 lbs. or 19.5 kilograms. ‘Axel Biggie Smalls’ is famous on social media as his West Carleton owners share his journey in losing weight.

Axel Biggie Smalls weighed 43 lbs. in February. (Kristine Seguin/supplied)

When Kristine Seguin rescued Axel earlier this year, she put him on a diet.

“He was 43 pounds when we took him in… so he was four times the size of the average cat,” she tells CTV News Ottawa.

Seguin says through a special diet and some exercise, Axel has lost 10 lbs. since February, “which is incredible,” she says, “but our goal is not only weight loss, but being a cat; getting to jump on things, getting to enjoy things. I mean, he’s only seven years old. He still has a lot of time left in his life. And we want to make sure he gets to enjoy that.”

Axel Biggie Smalls on the scale. He has lost 10 lbs. since February. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)A

And while he has been shedding the pounds, he, like anyone on a diet, does occasionally get ‘hangry.’

“That’s when he claws at you sometimes to try and steal food from other cats. So we’ve had to really be creative about where we feed the other cats in the house,” she says.

Axel clearly loves food, but it’s not clear how he got so big.

“We didn’t get much backstory, but when I’m cooking pizza, anything with cheese, he’s begging. He’s like clawing at me. So, I’m assuming he got human food because he wouldn’t really eat cat food when he came.”

Seguin and her family posting the cat’s weight loss journey videos to social media, with a goal to raise awareness about pet obesity.

“He’s grown quite a little following of people who cheer his weight loss every Friday and how he’s doing.”

His TikTok account has more than 2.6 million likes and 128,000 followers.

And, some videos — like this one of stair-climbing-exercise motivation — has more than 11 million views.

Axel’s weight loss is also a gain; a fundraiser for the rescue he came from, the Ferdinand and Friends Animal Rescue Network, to “help support more cats like Mr. Biggie Smalls here,” says Seguin.

Seguin, who is also the director of the Ferdinand and Friends Animal Rescue Network, says the hope is for Axel Biggie Smalls to lose another 10 to 15 lbs. over the next year.

“I fostered hundreds of cats and he’s just like a toddler. He’s one of mine now, so he’s part of our family.”