About

Cinderblock is an obese grey short-haired cat whose weight loss journey has been documented on social media by Northshore Vet^[1] in Washington. In October 2019, a video of Cinderblock refusing to fully try out an underwater treadmill went viral and spawned fan art and a supportive following.

Origin

On October 19th, 2019, northshore_vet posted the video of Cinderblocks first attempt at the underwater treadmill to Instagram (shown below). The video gained over 15,100 likes in nine days. Northshore Vet captioned the video: "Join us on Cinder's weight loss journey. This fabulous feline is obese, and it is affecting her quality of life. We are helping her achieve weight loss through a prescription diet and exercise. She is not on board with the exercise."

Spread

On October 25th, 2019, Twitter users began posting fan art of Cinderblock as well as voice their support. Twitter user @alexplantewpg^[4] shared fan art of the cat with the caption "I’m rooting for you Cinderblock" which gained over 17,900 likes and 3,200 retweets in three days. Twitter user @stopitmargarita^[5] commented that "The owner was a sick 93 year old man. His family took the cat when he declined and Cinderblock became unhealthy. They surrendered the cat so she could get the help she needs. Be kind, you didn’t know the circumstances. People mostly do their best." (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 1,200 likes and 100 retweets in three days.

On October 25th, 2019, staff of Northside Vet joined YouTube^[3] to create the Cinder Gets Fit account which accumulated over 5,200 subscribers in three days. On October 26th, CNN^[2] posted an article on the cat which stated:

Cinderblock's previous owner couldn't take care of her any longer and had brought the 8-year-old feline to Northshore Veterinary Hospital in Bellingham near the Canadian border to be euthanized, medical director and veterinarian Brita Kiffney told CNN. The previous owner was struggling with health issues and caring for her father, who suffers from dementia, Kiffney said. "I couldn't do it and asked her to relinquish her to me," Kiffney said about Cinderblock. "She agreed and was grateful, as she really didn't want to euthanize Cinder but was overwhelmed with the care of her father. So, she is morbidly obese, due to overfeeding by the father."

On October 26th, 2019, Cinder Gets Fit uploaded a video about Cinderblocks Morning Routine (shown below). The video gained over 48,700 views on YouTube in two days.

That same day, Cinder Gets Fit uploaded a video of Cinderblock in a pumkin hat for Halloween (shown below, left). The next day, they uploaded a video of Cinderblock in a Seahawks cheerleader outfit (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References