Biggest Cats

Various forms of giantism can range from a normally proportioned individual, who is simply larger than normal, then there are the true giants who have an underlying disorder or inherited condition which causes abnormal growth.

 In dogs, a single mutant gene could explain the range of sizes. Researchers found that small dogs had the same mutation in a gene that influences size. And lets face it, boyyyy are there different sizes to dogs. I have a cat bigger than some dogs....

The mutant gene is absent from most large dog breeds. The small breeds studied shared a mutant form of the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) gene known to influence size in mice and humans. This gene is present in some larger dogs; in those cases some other genetic factor must somehow override the mutant IGF-1 gene. The mutant form of IGF-1 probably arose more than 10,000 years ago. Lets not get too technical though.........

Don't want to bore you....

The absence or presence of sex-hormones affect growth. Cats which are neutered before puberty tend to become leggier, but the effect is small and does not cause health problems. The end of the growth phase is delayed slightly, allowing the long bones to lengthen slightly more than in cats which are neutered at 6 months old. Though leggier, they are not normally bulkier -in terms of muscle.

I have seen this in horses, if you have ever looked at a horse where the necks of the gelding is thinner than the thicker neck to a stallion....

Constitutional Large Size- means that large animals are this way because they are simply the offspring of larger parents. This has happened in dogs over many centuries, resulting in giant or massive thicker in bulk breeds such as Tosas, Great Danes and Mastiffs.

The Romans had huge dogs, showing how early this selective breeding began. By comparison, selective cat breeding began less than 200 years ago. In cats there is a range of sizes, though this is far from the wide range of sizes in dogs. There have been recent attempts to produce large cats by breeding together the current largest breeds (Maine Coon and Ragdoll) but this did not result in increased size.

In cats, size mutations may have occurred, but cats have not lived in close enough association with humans for these mutation to be developed. Also, cats are not as diverse in their uses as are dogs so there has been little interest in developing them into as many different forms.

Interbreeding large cats has failed to increase the offspring's size because the polygenes for large size or massive build just aren't there. Until those genes occur by mutation, cat breeders just don't have anything to work with!

Nature is good at selecting for the size that works best for that species in question.

When dogs are left to go feral, over many generations, their shape tends to revert to something more wolf-like - medium-large size, sharp pointed muzzle, pricked ear, wolf-like body proportions.

• Hot climates favour a lighter build and shorter fur,
• Cold climbs favour a more robust build and shaggier fur.

Ancestral traits such as these, have proved most advantageous over the millenia of evolution and, in the absence of human intervention. That is the shape that will eventually prevail in their own environment, they are built to survive the most efficient.

Humans have not separated the cat from this form of natural selection long enough for a wide range of shapes and sizes to occur spontaneously and to be perpetuated.

Compared to dog breeders and livestock breeders, cat breeders are in the extreme early stages selective breeding. Until the appropriate genetic "palette" has occurred, cats will stubbornly remain cat-sized and cat-shaped!  Until recently cat breeders seem to be more concerned in their fur colour and shape for the cat shows more than anything else.

There are two main problems in hybridizing domestic cats with larger species - one is the actual problem of mating although this can be overcome by artificial insemination if the two species are unable to accomplish intercourse. The more difficult problem is that the species may have different periods of pregnancy.

If the individual carrying the kittens is the one with the shorter gestation period, the kittens may be born premature in development, they may not survive. If the individual carrying the kittens is the one with the longer gestation period, that is generally the larger of the two species involved, this may cause accidental harm to kittens which, in terms of her own species, are undersize.

Groth Dysplasia - is form of giantism found in certain big cat hybrids due to the interaction of mismatched genes. Lion/tigress hybrids =ligers,  often exceed the size of either parent, but are not disproportionately leggy.

Well it look as though most of our cats then... are more on the larger size when it comes to eating, though we all know that there are bigger cats out there. Just not as big as some people would lead us to believe......

One of my cats is a big boy, weighing in at twice the normal weight as a average sized cat.  Though, his just a big boy. Nothing more, nothing less.......

Mordred Grosfahrt of Andover West Germany claims the title of worlds largest cat with "Dubya" a 65 pound monster five year old female house cat.

Unfortunately this cat has been labeled as a HOAX dear readers, though it would give you an idea of how a giant cat would look if there is one. As you can see... all its proportions are right.

Also competing for the title of world's largest cat is "Michael Moore" a seven year old tabby belonging to Dick Holder of Gainesville Ohio.

We also have a contender with Sheila Charmin of North Westport Ma, with the world's biggest cat named Frekles.

"Christie Alley Cat" a very fat cat owned by Katherine (Kitty) Kovacs of Dresden Michigan:

Hercules the Liger

Half Tiger, half Lion, Herculies is a giant amongs his kind. Though he is a new kind. Not possible in the wild, a coupling of different breeds has resulted in Herculies and others like him. the largest non-obese liger, said to weigh over 900 lbs, over twice the size of a male lion.

Hercules was in the Book of World Records as the largest cat.

Apparently Ligers have been bread in captivity, deliberatly and accidently before world war 2.

Documentation of ligers dates to at least the early 19th century in Europe. A painting of two liger cubs was made by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772−1844).

Lions have also been bred with leopards, producing "leopons," and leopards with jaguars, whose offspring are called "legjags."

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