Here Kitty, Kitty!

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Now that's some kitty cat! I received this story as an email from my niece so I'm not sure if it's an urban myth or not. And I can't tell if the photo is real or a fake (it's pretty easy to fake a photograph these days with good imaging software).

I'll leave it to you all to decide...

-Jim

Rodger Degagne, a former employee with AECL in Chalk River, may be embarking on a new career as Feline Breeder. Relaxing in his spacious home on the shores of the Ottawa River, Mr. Degagne recalls how 15 years ago he befriended two stray young cats on the old AECL research facility at Chalk River. The kittens had appeared in late summer and apparently had gotten under a security fence around the old labs abandoned since the late 50's.

With the help of his tuna sandwich, Mr. Degagne was able to coax the kitties close enough so that he could pick them up. A self-described animal lover, he did not want to place the kittens in the local Humane Society. In this largely rural area, cats of all stripes and ages largely go unwanted and are humanely disposed of after a few days.

Later that evening his wife Louise and their two children, Nicole and kelly came to a family decision to keep the kittens which they named Lost and Found. Lost turned out to be female and Found a male. When nature finally took it's course, a litter of kittens was born 6 years later. One of the litter was a big white female with a unique black markings on her side and tail. Something about the kitten captured the hearts of the family and while her siblings eventually found homes elsewhere, Snowball stayed with the Degagne's. While Lost and Found are no longer with us, their progeny live on. In her 9 years Snowball's size has seemed to snowball. Put simply, Snowball is no ordinary cat, she measures 69 inches from nose to tail and weighs in at 87 lbs.

She started out a big kitty and she just seemed to keep growing. She always meowed for more food and would climb up on the counter to eat food which I forgot to cover. Chicken is her favorite. "Once I left a cooked chicken on the table that I was going to use for a boat picnic, an hour later the chicken was gone", Louise said. We knew that snowball wasn't your average cat when the neighbor's German Shepherd ran yelping away from his first encounter with her. She just isn't afraid of any animals. After we found a half eaten raccoon out by the garage, we decided that maybe Snowball should be kept fenced in. We soon discovered that while we can keep snowball in the yard, we couldn't keep raccoons from Snowball. At least it kept the food bills down.

Rodger laughed "Like all female cats she is very territorial, but with us she is just a big ole kitten" he said. So what does a 87 pound cat eat? Snowball goes through a about 3 lbs. of cat food a day, along with cooked chicken, supplemented with deer and moose that Rodger hunts in the fall. She likes Pike a lot, so I don't throw them back any more. Snowball often accompanies Rodger fishing on the Ottawa, eagerly peering over the side of the boat as soon as his line goes tight.

So what do the Degagne's attribute Snowball's size to? Rodger says "Well, the vet thinks it could be her thyroid, but she isn't fat, she's just a real big cat. I think maybe her parents got into something at Chalk River that they shouldn't have".




-- Anonymous, April 30, 2001

Answers

OH MY GOD!!!!!! You sure thats a cat!!!....Kirk

-- Anonymous, April 30, 2001

Yeah, that was my thought too, Kirk.

It looks like something that got too close to three-mile island nuclear power plant. I think it could eat my three kitties for an appetizer!

-- Anonymous, April 30, 2001


Yep, I was wondering what those abandoned labs contained, myself! ROTFL!

I believe it's a faked picture. The cat's body doesn't look right to be held that way. The back is too level. I believe the cat was lying on something like the back of a sofa (notice the cocked right front paw) with the left-side legs hanging down. This is based on my 24 years experience of observing cats, plus picking up my own white kitty and posing in front of the mirror. And the guy isn't straining enough to be holding up 87 pounds. Still, it's a good mock up and a funny story.

-- Anonymous, April 30, 2001


My first thought that this had all the earmarks of an earmuff, er, all the earmarks of a hoax was the phrase about 'when Nature took it's course...' and kittens six years later? None until then? That's a real tip off that there is a lot of testing for leg elasticity in this story.

Aside from the guy casually hefting an 87 lb cat, how come his hand isn't sinking into the fur/guts at the animal's flank, which would happen with that kind of a weight. Notice the inconsistancy of shadowing on the cat as there is on the man?

Oh well, it's an Urban Legend!! They're supposed to be fun, aren't they and see who they can fool with it? Our local news reported the world's record beaver one day and that it had weighed 850 lbs. We never heard more on that story, and to this day we are wondering whether they got it mixed up that it was the world's record black bear, or whether that beaver was supposed to be 85.0 lbs. That'd still be one large rodent.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2001


Interesting... The 'OH MY GOD' comment is RIGHT!!!

While this one may truly be a myth, there are cats out there that are an average of 45" long, 2 1/2 - 3' tall, and just as heavy. Forget the breed, but I've seen them in shows back in IL. They were bred to look like panthers. They do a derned good job of it, too!! I almost bought one as a guard when I had a storefront back there....

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2001



Hi Sue,

If you ever happen to remember what the name of that breed of cat is please let me know. I'm a cat fanatic so I'm interested in any and all breeds of cats.

I knew a guy that had Russian Blues and they were pretty big. I don't know if they were pure bred or a mix but they sure weren't tiny.

BTW, it's good to see you posting again. I hadn't seen any posts from you in while and was hoping everything was all right. :-)

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2001


Well, I tried to critically examine the photo and came up with the various conclusions about the weight of the cat and the stance of the man, shadows, right front and rear legs etc, and still no definite conclusions. Wrote to a cousin in Ottawa to inquire of the reference to AECL on the Chalk River. Seems it is on old Atomic Energy research site. We have one here in the NW, called Hanford. Right on the Columbia River....fish caught in the river really aren't safe to eat, but to my knowledge, no monster fish yet....maybe glowing ones but no monsters..:<) A friend moved to the mts. and took his female cat. Seems it bred with a bobcat and the offspring were big and neighborhood dogs didn't mess with them..:<) Hope someone can clear up this puzzle of the 'big cat'.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2001

http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/bigcat.html

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

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