The days of gluttony are over for one fat cat out east.

Tiny, a 30-pound house cat, was stuffed into a duct-taped box with a normal-sized cat one-third his size and dumped at an animal clinic in Fredericton, N.B., shortly before the New Year.

Nancy Garon, Tiny’s foster mother, brought him home to get him in shape. So she has him chasing a laser dot, which he never catches, wrestling with a toy fishing pole and hunting rodents. He will lumber onto the scales every Tuesday as part of a weight loss challenge to raise funds for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

But before the weekend, Tiny refused to eat, likely due to the stress of being abandoned at an unfamiliar place. No one is sure why the two cats were cast aside, but that happens regularly at shelters across the country.

Staff at the animal clinic was concerned that the hefty feline would die of a liver failure after he went five straight days without food. So they gave Garon permission to experiment with his food.

Tiny turned up his button nose at chicken and fish and only nibbled on sardines. So Garon went for fat.

“He’ll eat anything based with gravy,” said Garon, who discovered Tiny was a pampered cat who prefers to eat out of someone’s hand, rather than a dish.

Next, she tried cheap dog treats, which he devoured.

“But that’s like eating a Big Mac every day,” Garon said.

So she plans to mix in nutritious food to wean him off the junk. Like humans, obesity in cats can lead to diabetes, can stress internal organs and can lead to arthritis. But Tiny’s diabetes test came back negative.

He has lost three pounds since being abandoned, but that was mostly due to stress. Losing that much weight too quickly is also dangerous, according to LeeAnn Haggerty, an education coordinator for the Fredericton shelter.

Tiny’s blubbery body has affected every facet of his life. He is notoriously lazy, walking only short distances before settling into a cat nap. He cannot clean himself, so Garon must. And he is so obese he can only leap short heights. He can pounce onto the couch, but needs help getting into Garon’s bed to sleep.

“It works out for me because he is too fat to jump on my counters,” Garon said. “I can’t stand cats on my counters.”

But there are signs of friskiness. While lazing on the couch Monday night, Tiny spotted something dark and small. So he jumped down to investigate and stalked a mole all the way to the kitchen, eventually catching and killing it. And he didn’t even try to eat it, saving it as a gift for Garon.

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The Fredericton SPCA is raising funds through Tiny’s Weight Loss Challenge. The money will go to an emergency pot for special needs animals, Haggerty said, such as two older female dogs that need surgery soon.

Tiny remains up for adoption, “But I am falling for him, so he might have a forever home here,” Garon said.