The late spongebob with his adopted parents.

“Goodbye Sweet Boy.”

Matt and Courtney Farrell announced on spongebobthecat.com that Sponge Bob, their recently adopted 33-turned-26 pound tabby, had to be put down this week.

He had fits of breathing trouble, the newlywed couple wrote, so they took him to an emergency veterinarian, who found a growing mass in the nine-year-old cat’s chest that pushed his heart to the wrong side and put pressure on his lungs. According to the blog, removing the mass would have required a biopsy, which likely would have killed him because of his weight.

“After asking lots of questions and weighing all of our options, we made the difficult yet informed decision to put him down,” the couple wrote. “Surgery was a very risky option for him, and we didn’t want to put him through the stress of that with such great chances that it would not work and he would be in a worse condition, or that he would die in surgery and we wouldn’t be there.”

Sponge Bob joined the Farrells in their Upper East Side home in June. He had been up for adoption at Soho’s Animal Haven, where he was delivered after his original owner went into hospice. Sponge Bob’s extraordinary size — that of a three year old child, or around three times that of the average cat — won him widespread media attention. At his heaviest, he was speculated to be the world’s largest living cat.

The Farrells were eager to help Sponge Bob trim down, but also careful to make sure he did so in the healthiest way possible. “Obese cats that lose weight at too rapid a pace are at risk for Fatty Liver Disease, which requires serious treatment and can be fatal,” they wrote on the blog after consulting with vets and Animal Havenc’s director, Kendra Miller. They planned to take one or two pounds of Sponge Bob per month.

“Sponge Bob is doing fantastic in his new home and we couldn’t have found a better family for him,” Miller told New York Press last week. “He continues to lose weight and his parents keep a very close eye on his health. He brings them so much happiness and I am sure Sponge Bob feels the same way about them.”

The growth in Sponge Bob’s chest was sudden and, according to the blog, not directly related to his weight.

“This has been one of the hardest things I have ever experienced, and certainly the most difficult thing Matt and I have had to endure as a couple,” wrote Courtney on the blog. “We loved this cat so tremendously and had so many plans for him as part of our family. We hadn’t had him for long, but we had already dreamed about him being around in the future.”

Matt put together a slideshow tribute to Sponge Bob on the site. “Until we meet again,” it concludes, “breathe easy little buddy, breathe easy.”

– by Paul Bisceglio

Spongebob in fatter times.

By Paul Bisceglio

New York’s favorite corpulent kitty has shed more than fur this summer. Spongebob, the nine year old tabby whose physique puts Garfield to shame, has lost some pounds since he was adopted from Animal Haven in June by Upper East Side newlyweds Courtney and Matthew Farrell.

The blog maintained by the couple on their portly new family member reports that Spongebob dropped four pounds in his first two weeks at home, down to 26 pounds from 30. His obesity — the result of overfeeding by his previous owner — puts him at risk of diabetes and arthritis, so Animal Haven and the Farrells created a diet and exercise routine to get him closer the feline average of 12 to 15 pounds.

Too much weight loss too soon can be bad for cats, however, so the Farrells note that Spongebob’s impressive progress is a cause for celebration as well as caution:

“Obese cats that lose weight at too rapid a pace are at risk for Fatty Liver Disease, which requires serious treatment and can be fatal,” they say on the blog. “When trying to help a cat lose weight, it’s important to monitor their weight and exercise levels regularly and look for any signs of discomfort, stress or illness.”

The couple had intended to help Spongebob drop only one to two pounds per month, but recognize that the stress of his sudden celebrity probably jolted things forward. To get him back on track, they have shelved the diet cat food and count play and general movement around their apartment as exercise.

Spongebob was a whopping 33 pounds when he arrived at Animal Shelter earlier in the year. Kendra Mara, the shelter’s Associate Director, has kept tabs on the tubby tabby’s progress, and is confident that he found the right home.

“Sponge Bob is doing fantastic in his new home and we couldn’t have found a better family for him,” she told New York Press. “He continues to lose weight and his parents keep a very close eye on his health. He brings them so much happiness and I am sure Sponge Bob feels the same way about them.”

Edie Falco with the 30-pound cat Sponge Bob

Zadroga Bill to Cover 50 Types of Cancer
Fifty types of cancer have joined the list of covered conditions for the World Trade Center Health Program linked to the Zadroga Bill that was passed in early 2011. The coverage comes after Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reviewed the link between exposure to the toxins at the World Trade Center site and cancers affecting the digestive and respiratory systems. He recently issued a proposed rule to accept all of the Science/Technical Advisory Committee’s recommendations.

Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement Friday following the decision. “We thank Dr. Howard and the Science/Technical Advisory Committee for their hard work and diligence, which will get more of our 9/11 heroes suffering from cancer the treatment they deserve,” they said.

Two more peer-reviewed scientific studies will be done to determine if any additional cancers should be included in the list.

“We are confident that with the benefit of new peer-reviewed studies to come, we will be successful in ensuring that first responders and community survivors suffering from other cancers will also get the access to the program they so desperately need,” said Schumer and Gillibrand.

City Has Too Many Bee Hives, Say Experts
If dodging speeding cabs, wayward cyclists and lost tourists on the city’s sweltering streets this summer isn’t enough, here’s another thing to look out for: bees—a whole freakin’ lot of them.

Honeybee swarms of cinematic proportions have terrified citygoers this spring from Brooklyn to the Bronx. They have bombarded a fire hydrant at the South Street Seaport, crowded the Bowery and even trapped a family in a Volvo at Pier 92.

The source of these swarms is one of the city’s fastest-growing hobbies: beekeeping. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani banned honeybees from New York City back in 1999 along with cheetahs, elephants and other exotic pets, but the relegalization of beekeeping in 2010 ushered in a new trend. The New York Post reports that since the ban was lifted, the number of registered hives in the city has increased from three to 161. Hives range in size from small rooftop collections to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which boasts the city’s largest habitat with 20 hives and 20 million bees.

Andrew Coté, founder of the New York City Beekeepers Association, said. “There are too many hives right now. As it increases in popularity, it will be more and more difficult to control.”

Sponge Bob, the 30-Pound Cat, Finds New Home
Sponge Bob, the 30-pound feline media sensation, made his debut with his new owners last week on the red carpet at Animal Haven’s second annual Performance for the Animals benefit concert and auction at City Winery in Tribeca.
Two months ago, Sponge Bob’s previous owner went into hospice and left the nine-year-old cat with Animal Haven, a nonprofit cat and dog shelter on Centre Street in Soho. The shelter started a blog about Sponge Bob to aid his adoption that won him instant fame last week, including press coverage in the UK and an appearance on the Today Show. He is likely the world’s largest living cat.

Sponge Bob now belongs to Courtney and Matthew Farrell, a young newlywed couple who live on the Upper East Side. They hoisted Sponge Bob up for the cameras on the red carpet—no easy task.

Courtney Farrell said she and her husband had occasionally talked about getting a cat, but did not want to bother with a kitten or anything too out of control. When she first read about Sponge Bob, she sent her husband a picture as a joke. A few conversations later, they knew they had found the perfect match.

When asked about the cat’s health, Matthew Farrell promised, “We’re going to whip him into shape.” He and his wife both exercise regularly and believe in promoting healthy lifestyles.

“He’s already on a no-carb diet,” he said with a smile. “Catkins.”

Compiled by Paul Biscegio and Adel Manoukian