Oliver Lee Bateman chews on how America is eating up its literal fat cat.

The Santa Fe Animal Shelter came into possession of a severely abused, severely obese cat named Meow. The staff there commenced the process of slimming him down–although it’s unclear how long this will take, given that the cat is only 2 years old and already weighs 40 pounds–in order to prepare him for adoption. But what would be the best way to find a new owner for poor Meow?

The American way, naturally! A fat cat like this deserves all the trappings of celebrity.

In due course, Meow was trotted out onto the set of The Today Show.

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He also met fumbling, bumbling English leading man Hugh Grant, an event that Best Week Ever properly decided was worthy of Internet immortalization. And tonight Meow will appear on Anderson Cooper 360, where his extreme weight gain will be discussed alongside other issues of global significance, such as the Secret Service hooker scandal and the question of whether Barack Obama was justified in eating dog while abroad.

I feel bad for this feline. My fiancée and I own a white house cat that, while not named Meow, will nevertheless meow on command. That cat is otherwise unremarkable; she weighs 7 pounds and has no obvious health problems. Meow, however, struggles to stand up. He’s a big, immobile pillow. On the Today Show video, he licks his lips constantly (suggestive of the fact that he’s still hungry) and takes short, jagged breaths while he is stroked with a brush. His previous owner was an elderly woman who was unable to properly care for him.

Once Meow made the news, the Facebook page I linked to in the first paragraph received an outpouring of love from people who thought that he was the most beautiful cat who ever lived. A handful of commenters expressed disgust with Meow’s state, noting how unfortunate it was that he looked so unhealthy, but most seemed to think that his obesity made him cuter than ever. Even the good folks at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, who undoubtedly have Meow’s best interests at heart, have capitalized on his immense size to draw attention to their rescue program.

Now here’s the thing: Why should we care more about Meow than any other animal that winds up in a shelter? Why is he, like the contestants on the Biggest Loser and the various other extremely obese people who have appeared on reality shows, so deserving of our attention? Have we really progressed from an era when a creature like this would be displayed in a freak show? Perhaps the only difference is that we now want to “help” these freakish individuals, to “save” them, to give them the mental and physical therapy our therapy-loving, therapy-saturated society believes they deserve.

But when it comes down to it, don’t we just want to gape in awe at how fat this freaking cat is?

Photo–AP Images