PORTLAND, Ore. – You only have to Google “Hercules” and “fat cat” to understand how popular Geoff Earnest’s generously proportioned kitty has become.

A clip of Hercules –known also as Goliath and Fat Cat – became a Web sensation, racking up nearly 400,000 hits and taking top honors for one of the most-watched pet clips on YouTube.

The cat will be featured in an upcoming Martha Stewart Living issue in an article on helping pets lose weight. He might become a spokescat for a high-protein, low-cal cat food.

And a Canadian admirer even called wanting to purchase Hercules’ – ahem – sperm for breeding purposes. (Sorry, Earnest told the caller, Hercules has been neutered.)

All this celebrity after years of wandering the trim and tidy yards of Portland’s Gateway neighborhood – looking for food handouts, no doubt – seems to have left the tubby feline unfazed.

What makes him happiest is obvious: Earnest’s company.

The feeling is mutual.

“I think he’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” Earnest said, running a brush along Hercules’ thick coat as the cat flicked his tail in contentment. “He’s like a brother to me. I just love him to death.”

For those of you who don’t remember Hercules’ story, here’s a recap:

For four years the pudgy kitty was Earnest’s constant companion. Earnest, 31, has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects the mucus lining of the lungs and leads to breathing problems. In June, Earnest flew to Seattle for a rare double-lung transplant at the University of Washington Medical Center. A housesitter watched Hercules, but the cat disappeared and Earnest assumed his beloved pet was dead.

But Hercules, it turned out, was alive and well – so well that last month he sneaked into a stranger’s garage, snacked on food and got his ample frame stuck exiting through a doggy door. He landed at the Oregon Humane Society, which alerted reporters to the cat’s escapades. His story was picked up by reporters, was aired on local television news and eventually spread worldwide.

One night in early January, while watching television, Earnest saw the fat cat’s mug flash on the screen during a newscast.

That looks like Hercules, he thought.

Indeed it was.

These days, Earnest speaks to schools and community groups about twice a week, and sometimes his famous cat tags along. Earnest – told at age 29 that he would die without a lung transplant – talks about his own experience as an organ transplant recipient and encourages others to become organ donors.

In his talks, he’s always sure to mention Hercules.

The way Earnest sees it, he and his cat have something in common.

“He came back from the dead like I did,” he said.

Most days, Hercules can be found resting on a towel draped on Earnest’s bed or footrest. Every morning, Earnest puts his cat on a leash, and the pair head into the neighborhood for exercise.

Since Hercules has returned home, he’s been placed on a diet. So far, he’s lost about a pound, slimming down to a still-rotund 19.6 pounds. (According to his veterinarian, Dr. Joshua Horner, Hercules could stand to lose another three or four.)

Hercules may look, well, how to sensitively put this, big-boned to the rest of us, but to Earnest he’s perfect.

“He’s just a big, big cat,” he said. “I don’t want to see him get any smaller.”

RB END CROMBIE

(Noelle Crombie is a staff writer for The Oregonian of Portland, Ore. She can be contacted at noellecrombie(at)news.oregonian.com.)

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