Weirdly enough, you never really think of cats as particularly buff animals.
Okay, sure, maybe there's this guy, but he's kind of the exception that proves the rule.
People tend to think of most felines as graceful, intelligent, playful and occasionally evil
— but never strong.
But maybe it's time that changed.
Maybe it's time for a new perspective on these sleek little devils.
Maybe it's time humankind came together and asked… just what is the world's strongest
breed of cat?
Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to swing by your local Strong Cat competition
and grab the pick of the muscular litter, and literature on this subject is… well,
let's just call it limited at best.
"There's nothing.
We've got nothing."
Don't give up just yet, though.
In this particular case, speed and agility might well suffice as an analog to raw strength
after all, those are the most obvious positive characteristics of a cat's physiology.
So it makes sense that a cat who can run at high speeds and nimbly navigate obstacles
is likely to be, in scientific terms, the swolest cat of them all.
According to The Spruce Pets, the Egyptian Mau is the fastest domestic cat on the planet.
Heavily-muscled and strong, this highly athletic breed's top speed is about 30 miles per hour,
making it just about fast enough to get ticketed in a school zone.
More impressive still, the Egyptian Mau is believed to be a descendant of the domestic
cats worshipped 4,000 years ago by you guessed it the ancient Egyptians.
In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the sun god Ra is depicted as a spotted Tabby cat,
and the Egyptian Mau is the only naturally occurring spotted breed of domestic cat.
Logically, then, it's safe to assume that Ra, Egyptian god of gods, ruler of the sky,
king of the Earth and lord of the underworld was, in fact, an Egyptian Mau.
You know if you're into all that stuff.
The breed as it exists today arrived in Europe sometime prior to World War II and, like many
species, quickly suffered as a result of that conflict.
On the brink of extinction, the breed was rescued by an exiled Russian princess named
Nathalie Troubetskoy.
Troubetskoy was a Polish-born nurse who, after serving in both World War One and World War
Two, ended up pretty much saving the entire Egyptian Mau species single-handedly.
“No biggie."
According to legend, Troubetskoy was residing in Rome in the 1950s when a boy handed her
a kitten in a shoebox.
The boy had received the little Egyptian Mau from a diplomat and evidently decided to give
it away, because, you know, not everyone's a cat person.
Troubetskoy, however, became smitten with the kitten.
So she made it her mission to rescue as many Egyptian Maus as she could.
She contacted more diplomats, asking them to import more cats to expand the gene pool
and in 1956, Troubetskoy took three of these felines to the United States and founded a
cattery called Fatima.
Before long, Americans had fallen head over heels for the breed.
Obviously, today's Egyptian Mau's don't quite enjoy the high life their ancestors once had
in Ancient Egypt.
Even in Egypt themselves, they're seen more as pests than gods.
Like other cats, they litter the streets of Cairo, and are outright hated by many of the
city's residents, many of whom mistreat and disrespect them.
Today, Egyptian Maus are intentionally hit by drivers and ruthlessly poisoned by landlords
all in the very same land where killing a cat was once itself a crime punishable by
death.
It's only through the efforts of groups like the Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization that
these cats are sheltered, bred and protected in their own home country.
Still, if history has shown us anything, it's that the Egyptian Mau is a hardy cat one that
can fall from the heavens to the edge of extinction and still land on its feet.
And, in the end, isn't that the real definition of 'strength'?
Uh, no, actually.
It's muscles.
Big cat muscles.
Sorry, Scottish Folds.
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