I found this on Forthehunt.com;
Read the story, THEN look at the picture attached! This is amazing!
Rodger Degagne, a former employee with AECL in Chalk River, may be
embarking on a new career as Feline Breeder. Relaxing in his spacious
home on the shores of the Ottawa River, Mr. Degagne recalls how 15
years ago he befriended two stray young cats on the old AECL research
facility at Chalk River. The kittens had appeared in late summer and
apparently had gotten under a security fence around the old labs
abandoned since the late 50's. With the help of his tuna sandwich, Mr.
Degagne was able to coax the kitties close enough so that he could pick
them up. A self described animal lover, he did not want to place the
kittens in the local Human Society. In this largely rural area, cats of
all stripes and ages largely go unwanted and are humanely disposed of
after a few days.
Later that evening his wife Louise and their two children, Nicole and
Kelly came to a family decision to keep the kittens which they named
Lost and Found. Lost turned out to be female and Found a male. When
nature finally took it's course, a litter of kittens was born 6 years
later. One of the litter was a big white female with a unique black
markings on her side and tail. Something about the kitten captured the
hearts of the family and while her siblings eventually found homes
elsewhere, Snowball stayed with the Degagne's.
While Lost and Found are no longer with us, their progeny live on. In
her 9 years Snowball's size has seemed to snowball. Put simply,
Snowball is no ordinary cat, she measures 69 inches from nose to tail
and weighs in at 87Ibs.
She started out a big kitty and she just seemed to keep growing. She
always meowed for more food and would climb up on the counter to eat
food which anyone forgot to cover. Chicken is her favorite. "Once I
left a cooked chicken on the table that I was going to use for a boat
picnic, an hour later the chicken was gone", Louise said.
We knew that snowball wasn't your average cat when the neighbor's
German Shepherd ran yelping away from his first encounter with her. She
just isn't afraid of any animals. After we found a half eaten raccoon
out by the garage, we decided that maybe Snowball should be kept fenced
in. We soon discovered that while we can keep snowball in the yard, we
couldn't keep raccoons from Snowball. At least it kept the food bills
down Rodger laughed "Like all female cats she is very territorial, but
with us she is just a big ole kitten" he said.
So what does a 87 pound cat eat? Snowball goes through a about 3 lbs.
of cat food a day, along with cooked chicken, supplemented with deer
and moose that Rodger hunts in the fall. She likes Pike a lot, so don't
throw them back any more. Snowball often accompanies Rodger fishing on
the Ottawa, eagerly peering over the side of the boat as soon as his
line goes tight. So what do the Degagne's attribute Snowball's size to?
Rodger says "Well, the vet thinks it could be her thyroid, but she
isn't fat, she's just a real big cat. I think maybe her parents got
into something at Chalk River that they shouldn't have".
Photo of Snowball: http://packyhumor.dardan.com/archive/BigCat.jpg