Once a stray, Italian kitty inherits $13 million

A cat in Rome, Italy is officially part of the 1 percent after inheriting $13.3 million.

Four-year-old Tommaso may have once been a stray, but he's now the third-richest pet in the world. His 94-year-old owner was a childless widow who left the money to the kitty because no animal welfare association could care for Tommaso in the manner he was accustomed to, according to the Telegraph.

Because Italian law prevents animals from directly receiving inheritance, a nurse named Stefania, who was helping to take care of the woman in her final days, will be trustee for the cat.

"I promised her that I would look after the cat when she was no longer around," Stefania said. "She wanted to be sure that Tommaso would be loved and cuddled. But I never imagined that she had this sort of wealth. She was very discreet and quite, I knew very little of her private life. She only told me that she had suffered from loneliness a lot."

A German shepard named Gunter with $138 million and a chimpanzee named Kalu with $61 million are thought to be the only animals worth more than Tommaso.

Tommaso now lives in an undisclosed location because conmen want to scam him, according to his lawyer.

Watch this video from ABC's Good Morning America, broadcast Dec. 12, 2011.