Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/15/house-cat-is-as-big-as-a-2-year-old-toddler-almost-half-of-me-his-human-mom-says-video.html
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I mean - these are the result of domestic cats being force bred to jungle cats. Given the horror of regular dog mills used to exploit living creatures for profit I can’t get behind these - especially when they can sell for 20 grand a pop, and we euthanize so many domestic cats every day as it is.
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Though I am sure no human had a hand in the breeding of any of the bobcat-domestic mixes I have had the blessing of knowing .
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Fwiw, I’m dubious that cat is a savannah. It looks virtually identical to my Cheetoh (they run huge - mine is 19 pounds.) cheetoh cats are relatively new, and a cross between Bengals and occicats - while there’s slight wild ancestry from the ALC in the Bengal parentage, they’re considered fully domestic.
Theres a weird genetic quirk here (IANAG) that leads to early generation cheetoh cats being huge - often quite a bit larger than either parent.
They’re big, doofy, placid, and super lovey cats. The one in the vid really looks like a cheetoh.
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And do not think for one moment there are no personality/wild issues with these forced hybrids.
I have had 'Issues" with both serval hybrids and Savannahs while running a pet sitting service. They can be aggressive to the point of fearing for one’s life and lots of bloodletting.
Please do not fall into the trap of “its a great joy to own such a rare cat” after paying 10-20K for a wild hybrid kitten…go to your local shelter and find a cat/kitten that is in danger of losing its life due to many issues and will not pose such problems.
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I have a Savannah like that one … because of circumstances in his early live, he’s an indoor feral, lovely to look at but lethal to cuddle. That is either F1 or F2. Yes, they are humongous. Leggy, long bodied, big muzzle, long claws.
His brother was a very calm, affectionate cat, according to his owner. Mine I acquired as a re-homed cat because he mugged toddlers for their toys.
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Yes, the serval males, and F1/F2 hybrids need to be selected for good disposition and carefully socialized EARLY.
Their vocals and body language are a bit scary because they hiss a lot: a hiss can mean “hi, whassup” or “I’m about to make you lose a lot of blood”. And it’s an explosive steam-engine hiss.
We got ours as a rehome/rescue because for reasons he was not socialized young and needed an environment with no small children. (He mugged toddlers and took their toys, has poor impulse control, etc.) It’s been an interesting and occasionally painful experience.
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I’m glad they speciifed that it was the human mom bragging about the size and not the cat mom.
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One of my cats is 12kg. (Multiply by 2.2 to get his weight in lbs, 26½lbs doing mental arithmetic.)
He’s not been bred with anything crazy. He’s probably of farm cat heritage, but that’s an educated guess because he turned up stray in a semi rural location. Being in the UK there’s not so much in the way of wild cats to get into the gene pool, he’s all natural.
When he jumps on you in bed for a snuggle he can knock the wind out of you very easily…
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Jeez, thanks for taking care of him. I get annoyed with our SPCA shorthair when he even hints at swiping at me. I can’t imagine having a tiger lurking everywhere.
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Wow, after seeing a small ordinary house cat ‘go feral’ (triggered by intro to a new kitten, had to be tranquilized at a local vet) I can’t imagine how dangerous a larger cat could be.
Cats are basically weaponized muscle (even my ‘lazy old man’ shorthair).
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I thought Maine Coons could get up over 20 lbs.
But maybe with them it’s all “fur weight.”
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She’s not his mom, she’s his owner. I don’t understand how this creepy language has been normalised.
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Are you sure he’s not part Scottish wildcat?
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Pretty unlikely here in South Wales! Also he’s white with ginger patches so any residual genetics from wild cats would be firing really weirdly…
He’s just enormous, three times bigger than our other cat (who, naturally, bosses him around).
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