Apr 7, 2023 1 min read

Monster Cat Stalked Eaglemont

Have you heard of Nevil, the 30 lb. cat that lived in Thorseby Grove Eaglemont?

We do not have a photo of Nevil of Thorseby Grove Eaglemont, we do not even know if he was a fierce bad cat. he may have been a tame house cat.

FAT CAT
During the 1970s & 1980s Fat Cat was all the rage as a television star.

Yesteryears Peppa Pig and Bluey. On Channel 7 each night at 7:30 Fat Cat was tucked into bed as a "shout out" to all young children that it was truly bedtime - no point argueing with Mum about it.

Decades earlier an over-grown (can we say "over-weight" nowadays) feline was in the news.

Down in Thoresby Grove, Eaglemont, Nevil was attracting attention as the biggest cat people had seen.

The World‘s News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955), 18.07.1953, Page 32

Giant cat weighs 30lb

A giant cat named Nevil, owned by Mrs. Z. Stokes of Eaglemont, Victoria, measures one yard from nose-tip to tail-tip, weighs 30lb, and is 28 inches around the waist. Tabby colored, it is now 11 1/2 years old. Secretary of the Melbourne Cat Club says it is the biggest cat he has ever seen. - Whiskers (Vic.). (Article sourced by Nilss)

Nevil was on display at the annual Melbourne Cat Show on May 30, 1953. Proceeds were donated to the Orthopaedic Section of the Children's Hospital, so let's hope he pulled them in.

That was back when fairgrounds featured bearded ladies and such, so no-one cared about going to gawk and point at a fat cat on a plush pillow.

It is unlikely Nevil got out and about much; even less likely he was climbing fences and trees.

That would have been a relief for small dogs in the neighbourhood.