He's very big.

Sometimes we forget Smokey is a big cat. He can appear slim on occasion.

Our neighbors across the way have two cats, Angel and Scamp, and when we first saw them, we thought they were big. Their owner, too, described Scamp as a bigger cat.

Then we got Smokey. Since we didn't know how Smokey would interact with other cats, we did not introduce him to Angel and Scamp. As such, we never really thought about the differences in size. Every so often we would see Angel and Scamp out on a walk and the other half would come home saying they were big cats.

One day, on a whim, I asked Angel and Scamp's owner about their weights. Angel was, oh, 9 pounds, and Scamp, probably 11 pounds. 

Smokey at his first weigh-in was about 13 1/2 pounds. 13 1/2 pounds. On his recent visit to the vet, he weighed 15 pounds. This is when the vet instructed me to put Smokey on a diet. 

To underscore how much of a fatso we have made our cat (yes, it is our fault for feeding him too much and not exercising him enough), we encountered a slim black cat on our walk home the night before. 

After two weeks of reduced food, I can feel Smokey's spine again. Yet his thick limbs, wide girth, and jowly face remain. Even if Smokey weren't so fat, however, he is pretty large scale. That is just the way his body is built. So, people meet Smokey with the impression that he is BIG.

I can't help but think of Maru's situation. I'm sure Smokey is thinking the same thing whenever we call him a chubster, fatso, or truck.

In case you worry we hurt Smokey's feelings by calling him names, Smokey can hold his own. He casts us a hearty glare to let us know how rude we are.