Neglected Persian cat rescued from 5 pounds of his own fur

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — Weighed down by five pounds of matted fur, a once-neglected cat now has a new stride in its step and a huge following on social media.

His name is Sinbad and he's captured the internet's heart.

The nine year old Persian has more than six thousand followers on Facebook and Instagram, but people aren't clicking the like buttons hundreds of times because of the cat's attention-grabbing eyes or adorable poses.

They're doing it because of the story about where Sinbad came from.

Colette Bradley, from the Anti-Cruelty Society, says they received a tip: "So we got a phone call to our humane investigators about a cat who was living in a basement.  The individual was a utilities worker and happened to be in the area and saw the cat in the basement."

"He had very apparent matted hair hanging off of him," says Bradley.  "He couldn't move very well.  His back legs were just immobile basically.  Persian cats need to be groomed and brushed regularly to keep the hair separated and from clumping up together so those mats get very tough and they're very hard to comb out."

Sinbad's owner was no longer capable of taking care of him.  Thankfully, the owner agreed to hand the cat over to the Anti-Cruelty Society-- and they went to work.

"We used electric razors to get as close as we could to his skin," says Bradley.  "But it was hard to tell where the hair ended and his skin started... It took several, several hours to work on him and to get that hair to start coming off."

It took hours to shave Sinbad.  He required anesthesia at one point.  When they were done, they found that Sinbad had been dragging around five pounds of matted fur and he was severely malnourished.

Elliott Serrano is the Humane Education Manager at the Anti-Cruelty Society.  Coworkers knew he would enjoy Sinbad.  He says "they had the pictures on their camera phone and they said, 'Elliot, we found you a cat.'  And I was like 'really?'  Because he was like so sweet and so tolerant during the process we knew that he was a special little guy."

Over the holidays, he agreed to foster Sinbad at his home so the cat wouldn't be alone in the office. The two bonded immediately.

"We focus so much on the condition he was in," says Serrano, "but the most remarkable thing about him is that after all that he has been through, he is a really sweet, loving cat and how can you say no to that?"

So Serrano officially adopted Sinbad, giving the cat a "forever home" where he can get the care he needs.  He began sharing Sinbad's story on social media, created the cat's own accounts, and the story has blown up.

"We're getting messages from the Netherlands, the U.K, Dubai, Australia," says Serrano.  "All because the story of this cat has gotten everywhere!"

Cox Media Group