WE LIVE WITH A COUGAR!
PAWSOME OR PETRIFYING?
Anyone who’s a cat lover can picture the scene.
You’re playing a game with your beloved pet and they get a little bit too excited, resulting in an unintended – and unwelcome – bite or scratch.
It’s a scenario that Alexandr Dmitriev and his wife, Mariya, know all too well.
Except their cat, Messi, isn’t any old moggy. He’s a two-yearold cougar, and when he plays games with his proud owners in the living room of their home in Russia, it’s wise to be on your guard – at all times.
‘We trust our pet 100 per cent,’ brave Alexandr says. ‘We live together, sleep together. He convinced us with his behaviour that he’s a full member of our family and that he wouldn’t be doing anything bad apart from some small naughty things.’
According to the couple – who adopted Messi from a nearby petting zoo in 2016 – those ‘small naughty things’ include ‘biting very slightly’.
‘When he’s really into playing, it’s enough to just say “ouch” for him to stop doing that,’ Alexandr, 38, explains.
But that hasn’t deterred the duo sharing their studio flat with the big, brown cat.
‘The first time we saw him in the zoo, I think we both had the same feeling towards this animal,’ Mariya, 28, says. ‘It was such an excitement, such tenderness. Like, I don’t know, it’s impossible to grasp, but it was very strong. He’s an amazing cat, it was clear he was different.’
The pair say Messi is ‘quite smart’ and co-living with the wild creature is ‘not that difficult to arrange’.
Messi follows a strict grooming routine to ensure he doesn’t make a mess around the house – he gets washed in the bath, has his nails trimmed, his teeth checked and he receives a thorough
‘HE CONVINCED US WITH HIS BEHAVIOUR THAT HE’S A FULL MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY’
brush-down every day.
He eats twice daily with his diet consisting of turkey, beef, a bit of chicken breast and some bones. ‘He usually eats 1.5kg of the mixture,’ Alexandr says. ‘We give him different types of meat so that he can get all the necessary vitamins.’
Alexandr and Mariya have established a close relationship with their unorthodox pet, even allowing him to sleep next to their bed every night.
Fortunately, the cougar has never seriously bitten his owners and loves nothing more than to play football in the living room.
‘We’re also quite lucky, because when he’s playing he’s not sticking his claws out,’ Alexandr says.
‘He’s very kind and likes contact. He gets on very well with people,’ Alexandr insists.
But that doesn’t mean many people aren’t wary of getting too close to him.
‘When I walk our cougar outside and meet people, they usually can be divided into two equal parts,’ he adds.
‘First, those who approach me saying: “That’s an amazing kitty, can I pat him? Can I touch him?” And the second group includes people who stay away as far as they can.’
But Messi has proven a hit on social media, with 250,000 fans on Instagram and more than two million views on Youtube.
‘We love him a lot because he’s very affectionate,’ his proud owners say. ‘It was love at first sight. He’s an amazing cat, loyal and very kind. You love someone just because you love them. Not for their beautiful eyes or an amazing fluffy tail. You just love him because, Messi is Messi.’