New Breed Of Cat, A Leopard :|

[raptorrex]

the Main coon, is a large cat, well some are very large, and soft and floppy too. not known for their aggression, as far as i know. and in close to fifty years of having family or being associated with farms never, and i mean never, has a domestic cat taken down a sheep, not even a lamb. some of the farm cats i have met are fearsome creatures, but come on get real! cats in Australia are the cause of many extinctions, but no more than the toad, fox or rabbit. lol if your dog get done by a domestic cat, even one of those small toy dogs, take it back it is faulty.

 

[Colin_T]

the cats that were taking sheep were ferals out in Kellerberin (wheat belt area in the country). The biggest one we got weighed over 40kg and its skin fitted across the back seat of a Ford Falcon sedan. It was over 4ft long (not including the tail) and was caught during the night attacking sheep. It killed one of the Kelpies (dog) and ripped a couple more up. Its K9 teeth were about 2 inches long and it took both hands to hold its head.
Most of the ferals we caught were only about 10-15kg and a bit bigger than the average moggie. But they are nothing but muscle and won't think twice about ripping your arm open with their back legs or biting thru your hand. And even tho they generally run from dogs, some of them stand and fight and then the dogs get hurt.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

The biggest one we got weighed over 40kg and its skin fitted across the back seat of a Ford Falcon sedan. It was over 4ft long (not including the tail) and was caught during the night attacking sheep.

No domestic house cat, feral or otherwise, will *ever* grow that big. Either someone let go of a $10k designer hybrid or had an illegal exotic that escaped. Which is why ownership of exotic animals is controlled. The rest could have easily been feral house cats. Toms can get quite large, especially in areas that "select out" smaller specimens.

That being said, if I had a house with a yard and no small children, then I would totally be begging hubby to let me get one or two of those beauties (And, yeah, I bet he only sells them neutered!)

 

[PlecMama]

It's just a matter of time before that kicks someones butt and they end up banned like Pitbulls. I've been injured a lot more frequently by a variety of ordinary domestic cats then I ever have by domestic dogs, the hunt runs deep in their blood and they are well equip to do it. I don't believe they will have been able to breed that out completely.

It's a big animal, and therefore capable of inflicting big damage, and look at those back legs - built for the kill. It's only a matter of time.

It's pretty, but so are tigers. But they are not house animals.

 

[raptorrex]

No domestic house cat, feral or otherwise, will *ever* grow that big. Either someone let go of a $10k designer hybrid or had an illegal exotic that escaped. Which is why ownership of exotic animals is controlled. The rest could have easily been feral house cats. Toms can get quite large, especially in areas that "select out" smaller specimens.

too right pica-nuttalli!!
Australia like England now seem to have a BIG cat problem. these are the animals that are being blamed for the killing of Farm animals. like pica-nuttalli says no domestic cat feral or not, will reach that size. though i am waiting reply from my several colleagues in Australia, i have failed to even find a reference to domestic cats killing anything but wildlife, and i agree that's bad enough, in the news from OZ. we have the Linx in the north of this country, and even that will not often take lambs, and sheep are off the menu, unless they are injured of ill. there is the Beast of Bodmin, though clearly that is a leopard or puma, and that only takes sheep, though its size is roughly the same as the cat you got.

 

[Buslady]

yeah I'm not to keen on having cats because of the damage they do to wildlife. Having a bigger cat just means it can do more damage.
I have seen some rather large feral cats that have done some serious damage to livestock, (taken down sheep and killed dogs). I really don't see any need to be making giant kitties so people can let them out at night to play in the street.
They should be making them smaller and more pleasant natured.

Sheep and dogs are hardly wildlife. Like others said, no way will a domestic breed of cat grow that large. Whatever's killing livestock are something else feline.
Cats ARE pleasant natured when properly cared for. Those poor kitties dumped turned feral are doing only one thing, living on instinct to survive. Most ferals end up skinny,m diseased and don't live long. Either way, they're not guilty, their previous owners for dumping them are. My cats are sweet, pain in the butt, but very well care for and spoiled. They'd be going wild if they were dumped like that.

I do agree we don't need huge exotic cat breeds when we already have hundreds of others bred for house pets. But what can I say, we've always been tweeking genes with breeding animals and creating new breeds for some use or whatever. And I think "designer pets" is the most idiotic thing. My brother in law had teacup chihuahua and yorkie, they're so small...how can they live good proper healthy lives! They're the size of a rat! They'll get stepped on! Gimme a nice size blue heeler, thats what a dog is. Something that wont get stepped on.