I have no doubt many of you wouldn’t even flinch in hesitation if asked whether cats are your spirit animals—the critters spend more than half of their lives sleeping and it’s actually impressive how they can pull it off.
Well, cat people who are also hefty sleepers, meet your idol: Fat Xiang. Fat Xiang is a red tabby munchkin who has met internet fame recently with his nearly constant state of sleep in adorable ways only cats can pull off.
Meet Fat Xiang, the cat who loves sleep so much that he's been dubbed "the sleepy influencer"
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
So, this is Fat Xiang (or Fat “Lucky Guy”—yes, that is the name bestowed upon him by his owner), the seemingly chonky munchkin whose sleepy photos have been going viral recently. Oh, don’t worry, sleep isn’t all that he does, but he does that quite a fair bit regardless.
Back in 2016, Fat Xiang was a stray red tabby munchkin who was picked up by his now owner, Jessie, a dentist from Taiwan with whom Bored Panda got in touch for an interview. He was found injured after fighting some other strays on the streets. A quick visit to the vet, unfortunately, deduced that Xiang had FIV, the cat version of HIV.
"I adopted Xiang in 2016. He was a stray cat and all of the neighbors liked him. Sadly, he would often get hurt by other stray cats who fought with him, and he was small and not strong enough to defend himself. So, I adopted him," said Jessie.
Fat Xiang used to be a stray until he got picked up by his current owner back in 2016
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
It was also explained that Fat Xiang is a TNR, or a trap–neuter–return, cat, whereby cats are captured, neutered in order to control cat populations and to stop the spread of disease, and are let out to continue wandering the streets.
According to his owner, Fat Xiang gave out a vibe of being “not a very kissy cat”, one that would keep to himself because he would often fight with other strays. But he ended up being a cat that’s cool with everything. Whenever his owner calls him by his name, he stomps towards him on his cute short legs.
"He sleeps about 16-20 hours per day. I was worried if he’s sick and took him to the clinic," elaborated Jessie. "The vet checked his blood and X-ray, and said everything is normal, apart from his FIV. He suspects that Xiang now sleeps a lot more becuase he was constantly nervous in the street."
Unfortunately, soon after finding a new home, Xiang was also diagnosed with FIV, or feline HIV
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
"I can even cut Xiang’s nails when he's sleeping"
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
And, in fact, he’s not actually fat, just short. The fact that he’s a munchkin and the way Xiang tends to sleep is also a bit of an optical illusion that makes him look chonky, but in fact he’s just a cute fluffy cat.
So, yeah, he loves sleep. A lot. His favorite sleeping position seems to be on his back, though he is known to pull off some of the more classic positions, like on the side and on random objects. It looks like he can catch some shut-eye anytime and anywhere. He is so sleepy, in fact, that he has jokingly become known as “the sleepy influencer” who has over 29,000 followers on Facebook.
"Their fan-page is called “Run! Xiang” because I hope he is happy and vibrant. Fans always joked that I’m a liar because Xiang's always sleeping [and not actually running]."
He got his nickname, "the sleepy influencer", because of the fact that he has 29,000 followers on Facebook
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
Xiang now lives together with his owner and another cat named Shuai (meaning “Handsome”) in Taiwan. Shuai is another red tabby that came to the household quite unexpectedly when his owner passed away last year. Though the adaptation was a bit of a hurdle for the two cats, they now get along quite well.
A post from 2019 also elaborated that the owner often gets questions of whether they’re afraid to adopt and becoming emotionally attached to cats with FIV and other risk factors (such as old age):
“I think life and death are natural among animals, all of them will eventually die—but if we can let them have a loving home and have them leave us within that comfort, I can bear it.”
The post continued: “The big difference between humans and other animals is that, whether it be financial or emotional frustration, there will always be opportunities, choices, and it will slowly get better for us humans. But, for the animal, the owner is their entire world.”
The seemingly chonky red tabby munchkin looks like he could sleep anywhere and through anything
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥
Oh, and here's him snoring in the most adorable way
You can check out more adorable photos and videos on Fat Xiang's Facebook page. But before you go, let us know your thoughts on this in the comment section below.
Check out some more sleepy Fat Xiang goodness in photo form below
Image credits: 奔跑吧肥祥