Shelter Gets 100s Of Adoption Applications For Viral 'Chonky' Cat

PHILADELPHIA — Many celebrities call Philadelphia and the surrounding area home. And its newest celebrity is the 26-pound cat who has already won the hearts of thousands.

BeeJay, the 2-year-old domestic shorthair tabby, has taken the internet by storm.

Also known as Mr. B, BeeJay is living at Philadelphia's Morris Animal Refuge. The refuge posted his photo Thursday, and he was a viral hit almost instantly.

In fact, the big "chonky" boy got so much attention that the refuge's website crashed.

As of Friday afternoon, the site is still down.

"Our website crashed a few hours after posting Mr. B. and we’re still working on getting it back up and running," Development Manager Emmy Homan told Patch. "We have never experienced anything like this before."

Homan said people can find more information about Mr. B and other animals at the shelter on PetFinder while the site is down.

Since BeeJay took the internet by storm, the shelter has seen an influx of adoption applications.

"We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the response to Mr. B. We have been flooded with thousands of calls, emails, messages on social media, and adoption applications," Homan said. "I can’t be sure the exact number of anything but we received over 700 adoption applications for him!"

While Mr. B is a cute cat for sure, his size has surely generated much of the interest.

Homan said the shelter has had some fat cats before, some even getting close to Mr. B's weight, but said his build is much bigger than most cats they see.

"Even after Mr. B loses some weight he’ll still be a very big cat," Homan said.

With a heavier cat comes some things to be aware of, such as the possibility of health complications and the need for a larger litter box.

Those interested in donating to help BeeJay and the shelter should visit their Facebook page here.

Oh, and you can now get a shirt featuring the big boy online here for about $25 to help fund the refuge.

While many are looking to give Mr. B. his forever home, the shelter has plenty of other animals that need home as well.

Visit their Facebook page and Petfinder to see all other animals up for adoption.