World's Richest Kitty Has Net Worth of $8.5 Million (€6.4 Million)

Those who hear stories of owners mourning for their pets for months on end will probably not understand how the latest report came to be: a childless widow died and left her entire fortune to her cat, making him the richest kitty in the world.

Some time ago, Tommaso was no different from the millions of stray cats populating alleys around the world – until she met Maria Assunta.

Because it's impossible to leave your estate to your pet by the Italian law, Assunta thought of a manner to overcome the legal obstacle, the New York Daily News informs.

“Animals are prohibited from direct inheritance under Italian law, so Assunta tasked her lawyers with finding 'the animal welfare body or association to which to leave the inheritance and the task of looking after the cat Tommaso',” the report says.

The 94-year-old woman initially wanted to find an organization on which to bestow her entire fortune at the time of her passing, on the sole condition of taking proper care of Tommaso once she was gone and couldn't anymore.

She didn't find it. She did, however, met another woman in the park weeks before her death, and she chose to entrust her with Tommas's future – and money.

The will that has made the black kitty the world's richest cat was drafted at about that time, the aforementioned publication reports.

Stefania is a former nurse: she met Assunta in the park, became friends and even cared for her in her final hour.

She says she had no idea there was so much money involved: $8.5 million (€6.4 million), to be more precise.

“Sometimes I'd go to her house so my cat could play with Tommaso. I had no idea the signora had such wealth,” Stefania is quoted as saying.

Stefania and Tommaso are now living in hiding somewhere outside Rome.