Tran Thi Nga, 75, lives in Van Mieu Ward, Nam Dinh City in the northern province of Nam Dinh. She has a 20-kilogram cat.

Mrs. Nga and her cat.

With the heavy weight, her cat is famous in the ward and many people come to Nga's house to see it.

Nga bought the cat eight years ago and since then she has been surprised because the cat has grown rapidly. In some months, it even gained 900 grams per month.

Nga said that the cat ate a little, only some spoons of rice and about two or three small fish per meal. Nga's family earns their living by making pork pies, but the cat has never eaten some of those on the sly.

Recently, a person paid Nga VND120 million (US$5,300) to own the cat, but Nga refused adding that it was not easy to raise such a cat, and the cat was like a member in her family.

Nga said that the cat could walk briskly, climb 40-centimetre stairs and catch mice.

The heaviest cat in the world is Elvis, 17.5kg, and owned by a German person, but it could not move because it is too fat, according to the Gia dinh (Family) online newspaper.

A cat's life-span is about 20 to 30 years.

The giant cat and a normal cat of 4kg.