Fat cat from Canada finds Facebook fame (VIDEO)

Fat Boy, a fat cat from the city of Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, Canada, has become an unlikely local celebrity.

The "husky" cat weighs in at about 22 lbs, equivalent to a 350-pound person, and since the local animal shelter began chronicling Fat Boy's weight loss journey on Facebook, he has developed quite a following, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports.

Fat Boy is on a strict diet at 160 calories a day, and once a week on "Fat Boy Friday" — described as a a "wildly popular" event — he is weighed on a scale at the Moose Jaw Humane Society. 

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But he is a sneaky cat, the CBC says. Photos in the "Fat Boy is the Biggest Loser!" album on Facebook — a reference to the weight loss reality TV show — show the cat appearing to reach his paw into other cats' cages to steal their food.

"You don't really notice it until you look down and say, oh my gosh this [cat] is humongous," Karla Pratt from the Moose Jaw Humane Society told the CBC.

"Fat Boy has always had, I hate to use the word groupies but he's definitely got a fan following in the city of Moose Jaw. People will come just to see him, upset when he's outside or something. They'll ask where's the fat cat today," Pratt said.

The cat, who is a permanent resident at the animal shelter and not available for adoption, has even become the face of a fundraising campaign.

The shelter is selling "autographed" 5 x 7 prints with Fat Boy's photo and paw print on them to raise money for rescue efforts.

"If the diet goes as planned, his friends may have to call him something new. Perhaps, Fat Boy Slim," the CBC reporter quipped.