Holly the cat goes swimming, wearing a life vest, at a day spa for animals just outside the nation's capital.
Holly's owner, Dani Lawhorne, says that swimming is the only exercise her 18-pound feline will tolerate.
"She won't do anything else," Dani Lawhorne told WJLA, in a video that went viral. (It's not the same video above -- that one's new! We really can't get enough of Holly the swimming cat.).
"I've tried to take her outside," Lawhorne said. "She doesn't like the outdoors so she won't run around, she won't play with cat toys, she doesn't like cat nip. Anything normal that cats like, she just doesn't like."
More than half of all pets in the United States are overweight or obese, according to the most recent figures provided by the Association For Pet Obesity Prevention. Veterinarians say the extra weight leads to a host of health problems like diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
That's where pet spas and gyms -- like the Olde Town Pet Resort , where Holly the cat swims about once a week, according to her owner, who works at the facility -- come in.
And how's it going for Holly the housecat?
"She has lost about a pound in a six month period," says her owner in the video at the top of the page.
Want to see if your cat's a future Michael Phelps? Olde Town Pet Resort says on its website that "pet parents of cats and kitties are welcome to bring their felines to our indoor swimming pool to see if they have just as much fun as Holly!"
You can see Holly's first time in the pool, which caters more often to dogs than cats, here:
Related
Before You Go
