38-pound rescue cat Crumbs gets stuck in shoe rack while trying to escape fat camp: ‘He caused a mess’

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

A fat cat’s attempt to escape a diet center backfired horribly after its skinny sole got stuck in a shoe rack.

The cat, named Kroshik (Russian for “Crumbs”), was discovered by staff trying to get out of the center in Perm, Russia, where he had been sentenced to a strict exercise and food rationing regime, Newsflash reported.

The photos show the burly cat – who weighs almost 38kg – wedged between the bars of a shoe rack with his face stuffed with a bright blue Croc.

“Kroshik… he made a noise and escaped today,” rehabilitation expert Ekaterina Bedakova wrote in a September. 11 Telegrams after

“He was extremely unhappy when we found him disguised as slippers, but… after a portion of food, he calmed down.”

It’s been a long road for Crumbs – named for its ability to hoard food – which was first discovered a week ago in the basement of a Russian hospital.

Staff reportedly fed the pet a diet of biscuits and soup, which made it weigh 37.47kg – so heavy it couldn’t even walk.

For reference, most domestic cats should weigh about 10 pounds, health experts say—though the size can vary by breed.

“Kroshik’s story is an extremely rare case when someone loved a cat so much that they fostered it in such a state,” a spokesperson for the Matroskin Shelter explained to Prem.

In an effort to get Crumbs down to a normal weight, shelter staff put the mammoth on a weight-loss pilgrimage that included a new diet and regular treadmill workouts.

For the final exercise, they placed the cell in a tank of water to ease the strain on his joints, as seen in photos of him reluctantly walking on the overcrowded vehicle.

Employees even shaved Crumbs’ stomach to make it easier for him to dry off after his water aerobics sessions.

Fortunately, the vets are positive about Crumbs’ new routine. Under this new health regimen, they predict the plus-size couch potato will lose between 70-50 grams per week.

In fact, Bedakova suggested that Crumbs’ ill-fated escape attempt was actually a good sign because it showed that he’s a “very active guy.”