Anyone ever see a cat like this?

[puma guy]

A friend of my wife's sent her a photo her neighbor took of a cat. They back up to a large undeveloped track in Pasadena, TX. There are two other photos; one of the cat in a crouching posture but they are very dark (I think these were copied from her neighbor's Facebook.) You could see that it was very muscular, though. I've seen thousands of domestic cats working at my father's vet clinic and quite a few wild ones, but never one with a conformation such as this. When I first viewed it I thought of an otter, because of it's head and ears.
Interesting.

[ELB]

Does look odd.

I have had a black short hair cat with a similar conformation. When you pick up most cats it's like picking up a sackful of jello with a few bones floating in it, but my old Boojum had the body of a gymnast -- solid hard muscle everywhere. Long body, short thick powerful legs, and his skull was flat looking and long, like in the picture above. Looking at him from the front, his head was very wide as well, there was over an inch between his eyes. I've never seen another cat with his conformation...until now, I guess. Sure do miss him.

[crazy2medic]

Jagarundi?

[03Lightningrocks]

Wow! That is one creepy looking cat. It has to be some sort of weird crossbreed. Of what is anybodies guess.

[TxRVer]

Jagarundi?

Looking at Google images, I'd say that's a good guess.

[DocV]

Image find found this
https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/myste ... -research/
which shows this image:

[puma guy]

Image find found this
https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/myste ... -research/
which shows this image:

That's the same photo that was sent to my wife, so obviously the guy that said he took the pic is less than truthful. Fool me once!

[Archery1]

Yes, such was the Texas black panther, once. My dad was a state park volunteer in Brazos where he and a few others over the years swore they saw what looked like a black panther. Many sightings were reported across the state saying same. TPW said folks were seeing some other animal. Years later, they find there really is a large, dark, bobcat sized cat that is not a domestic cat.

[03Lightningrocks]

Image find found this
https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/myste ... -research/
which shows this image:

That's the same photo that was sent to my wife, so obviously the guy that said he took the pic is less than truthful. Fool me once!

LOL... you received fake news.

[puma guy]

Yes, such was the Texas black panther, once. My dad was a state park volunteer in Brazos where he and a few others over the years swore they saw what looked like a black panther. Many sightings were reported across the state saying same. TPW said folks were seeing some other animal. Years later, they find there really is a large, dark, bobcat sized cat that is not a domestic cat.

Could have been one of these, but they are only about twice the size of a domestic (house) cat. There's always the possibility your dad saw a melanistic puma. We have had two black deer killed on our deer leasein the last 20 years, which is a very rare occurrence for even one . We have black squirrels and a black fox as well. We kid that it's in the water.

[The Annoyed Man]

Chupacabra.

[K.Mooneyham]

Cougar, puma, panther, mountain lion, those are all names for the same basic cat species, of which there are subspecies. They indeed can be black (melanistic, as stated above). When I was a little kid living in East Texas, there was one that roamed the woods where we lived. I never saw it, but we certainly heard the screams it made. The sound it made would raise the hair on your neck. From what I gather, they were already rare back then (in the 70s) in that area, and even more so now.

[Lynyrd]

Image find found this
https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/myste ... -research/
which shows this image:

That's the same photo that was sent to my wife, so obviously the guy that said he took the pic is less than truthful. Fool me once!

LOL... you received fake news.

Why do people lie? I don't get it. I guess they want to feel more important than they really are.