A FAT cat from Little Bollington has won the battle with the bulge after shedding the equivalent of three bags of sugar.

Ringo, who has lost 35 per cent of his body weight, is said to have eaten huge meals before being put on a strict diet by nurse Katie Hartnoll.

His owner, Caroline Flowers from Little Bollington, near Lymm, is proud of her pet's slimming success and has thanked head nurse Katie, who runs Cheshire's first accredited weight management centre for pets at Abbeycroft Veterinary Surgery in Northwich, for her help.

Katie, who has been a veterinary nurse for 17 years, said: "Ringo was first referred to me from Lymm Veterinary Surgery, and weighed a mighty 8.79kg.

"At that time, he was one of the biggest cats I'd seen. He has now reached target weight - an impressive 5.7kg, losing a huge 3.09kgs. That's 35 per cent of his body weight.

"His owner, Caroline, has worked incredibly hard to get such an amazing achievement. Ringo has done really well and has a new lease on life and is much more energetic and playful.

"I am now working with Ringo and Caroline to stabilise him at his ideal weight and he will continue to come and see me monthly."

Each animal has its own tailor-made weight watching journey where they are assessed, weighed and measured and their owners given expert advice on their exercise and nutrition.

Owners are taught how to assess body condition and provided with a chart which shows how body condition is scored from one to nine with seven, eight and nine rated as obese - Ringo was scored at a nine.

Receptionist, Caroline, was encouraged to feed Ringo smaller portions of food little and often to mimic the natural way of feline feeding. Cats in their natural setting will hunt and eat on average 10 small meals throughout the day.

Caroline said: "Ringo has done really well but we have had to put a lot into it too - it's been a real family effort.

"He's much more active now, he's acting like a young cat again, he's more playful, happier in himself and you can tell he feels the benefits.

"We even had a little celebration when he jumped up onto the coffee table because he wasn't able to do that before with carrying so much weight."