When you hear about house cats, I’m sure you’ve never thought of big cats. But one family has a pet cougar who lives in their home as the most spoiled house cat ever.
Rescued from a petting zoo by Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev, Messi the cougar was riddled with health conditions that made rehabilitation and release to the wild impossible, so now he lives a plush life with his loving family.
Via Instagram
Messi is a cougar, also known as a puma or a mountain lion.
Via I_am_puma
He lives with Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev who saw him at a petting zoo in Penza when Messi was 8 months old and knew they had to save him.
Via I_am_puma
He was one of three cubs born in a zoo in Saransk, Russia. But when he was 3 months old, the zoo sold him to a petting zoo in Penza, Russia.
Via I_am_puma
Messi has a lot of health problems. Because he’s much smaller for his age, he can’t be rehabilitated and released back into the wild. So he has to live his life out in captivity.
Via I_am_puma
But Messi has adjusted to this life quite well.
Via I_am_puma
Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev are both psychologists living in Penza, Russia. Aleksandr had always wanted to have a big cat like a lynx so they feel that having Messi was their destiny.
Via I_am_puma
The couple visited the petting zoo in 2016, and when they saw Messi, they knew they had to adopt him.
They said, “We had three days of thinking hard about whether it was moral to keep such an exotic pet, and whether it was common sense to have one. But nothing could fight our sudden wish. So we went to the zoo and started negotiations to buy Messi. We were surprised when they agreed.”
Via I_am_puma
Since Messi had a lot of health problems, taking care of him was not easy. The couple had to provide special medical treatment and lots of care and attention to Messi.
Via I_am_puma
While they were successful in helping him be healthy, his overall size is only two-thirds of a cougar of his age. This means that even if he were released to the wild, he would not make it.
Via I_am_puma
So the couple decided to keep Messi as their pet and have him live out his life with them.
Via I_am_puma
While adjustment had to be made for a house pet of this size, the family is coping well.
Via I_am_puma
Being a big cat, Messi needs a lot of exercise. The couple renovated their house to provide him with extra space to play and got him a special coat and harness to make walks easier and safer for Messi and everyone else.
Via I_am_puma
Mariya and Aleksandr say that Messi is very much like a dog.
“He is like a dog. We started taking him for a walk, step by step. Now we walk a lot twice a day, as it’s supposed to be. It doesn’t differ much from owning a dog in this sense.”
Via I_am_puma
They also found a dog training school that admitted Messi. He can now understand up to 10 commands.
Via I_am_puma
Regarding the safety aspect of having such a large and predatory big cat inside their home, Aleksandr says that this hasn’t been a huge problem.
Via I_am_puma
He says, “He convinced us with his behavior that he’s a full member of our family and that he wouldn’t be doing anything bad apart from some small naughty things. He’s very kind and likes contact. He gets on very well with people.”
Via I_am_puma
While Messi is a little dog-like, he is still a cat through and through, despite his size. He loves playing like any cat.
Via I_am_puma
He also loves looking out the window like your regular domesticated house cat.
Via I_am_puma
Is he spying on the neighbours?
Via I_am_puma
If a cat doesn’t nap endlessly throughout the day, is it even a cat? Messi is a big fan of taking many naps throughout the day.
Via I_am_puma
His Instagram account I _am_puma has over 1.5 million followers and his YouTube channel has over 1.9 million subscribers.
Via I_am_puma
Messi lives with Gerda the cheetah. He used to be a little nervous around Gerda but they’re becoming friends.
Via I_am_puma
The couple has come under fire for keeping what are essentially wild and dangerous predatory animals in their home.
Via I_am_puma
Critics such as animal and environmental rights activists argue that the couple cannot provide the care Messi needs, including habitat, food and maintenance of instinctive behaviour like hunting and mating.
Via I_am_puma
While activists and experts say that Messi should live in a wildlife sanctuary or reserve under proper care, Mariya and Aleksandr disagree, saying that Messi cannot be rehabilitated because of his health problems.
However, Mariya agrees that this is dangerous: “Of course it’s quite dangerous having such a large cat at home, but Messi is a special animal.”
Via I_am_puma
While it is kind of the couple to rescue a baby animal from a cruel place like a petting zoo where animals are abused, wild animals cannot be domesticated within their lifetime and keeping them indoors is harmful to the animal and people alike.
Via I_am_puma
Keeping exotic pets like this also fuels the wildlife pet trade because people think owning predatory wild animals like big cats is easy and fun, but often the opposite is true. Animals like this who they have health conditions and are unsuited to being released back into the wild would thrive better in captivity under the care of experts who are professionally trained in the care and handling of the wild animal species.
