This cat is ugly -- no, make that OHMIGAWD UGLY!!!

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

And yet, beneath that hideous exterior lies a mild-mannered, laidback, amiable lovebug, it appears.

The story:

The cat's full name is Ugly Bat Boy. He's bald in most places except for flowing fur on his chest, and he spends his days on a warm computer at Exeter Veterinary Hospital, reported WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H. Bat Boy has become something of a local star.

You have to see him to believe him. I thought all-over hairless cats were bizarre-looking, but this guy has them all beat hollow.

There's a neat little video clip on the page of Bat Boy in his happy home. And happy it is:

He has the run of the place and all the attention he can handle.

"He likes it here," Bassett said. "He's comfortable. He likes the people petting him. So, he enjoys it."

I promise you, your reaction spectrum should run something like this:

[WhyNot]

Good lord. That is one ugly cat.

[Savannah]

Yep. That cat's ugly. But knowing he has a happy place to be loved makes me

[Jolly Roger]

Thats a cat? Looks like his mom mated with Gollum or a gremlin.

[Terrifel]

Honestly? In all seriousness, I don't really think that cat is all that ugly.

The fur looks kind of ick, but I think that's just on account of the color. I think it could possibly be groomed into a neater mane though, were the owner so inclined. Other than that, he just looks like a bald cat. He's got that awkward, hapless quality common to pretty much all hairless breeds of animals normally born with fur.

I've seen plenty of cats that I would consider uglier, including some pedigreed breeds. Persian cats have that mashed-in face, for example. Who thought that was attractive?

"Magnificent! This cat has beautiful silky fur, AND its face looks like it was smashed into a wall! At last, the cat fancier's goal of breeding a cat with a collapsed skull has been achieved!"

[Creaky]

Wow, I bet he does get a lot of love!

How could you NOT love a cat that funky-looking? He's totally weird and great.

I bet Salvador Dali would have owned a cat like that if he could have. And he would have put a little black beret on him and walked him down the street on a rhinestone-studded leash.

I need sleep I think.

[whiterabbit]

Yeah, that is one ugleeeeeee cat. But I would so totally fuss over him. I've never seen a cat that looked like that, ever. In that pic he looks like he's saying, "Yeah, I'm ugly, so what?" I like that attitude.

ETA: If he had no fur at all, he's just be odd-looking. But that mane-looking thing is just awful. I want to brush it for him!

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

EEEK!

[cmyk]

Now you know what cats look like under all that cute fuzz. They are not to be trusted.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Originally Posted by Terrifel

Honestly? In all seriousness, I don't really think that cat is all that ugly.

The fur looks kind of ick, but I think that's just on account of the color. I think it could possibly be groomed into a neater mane though, were the owner so inclined. Other than that, he just looks like a bald cat. He's got that awkward, hapless quality common to pretty much all hairless breeds of animals normally born with fur.

I've seen plenty of cats that I would consider uglier, including some pedigreed breeds. Persian cats have that mashed-in face, for example. Who thought that was attractive?

"Magnificent! This cat has beautiful silky fur, AND its face looks like it was smashed into a wall! At last, the cat fancier's goal of breeding a cat with a collapsed skull has been achieved!"

Well, I have to say that waking up in the morning to find Bat Boy on my chest, staring into my eyes, would have a high degree of likelihood of freaking me out, but I see your point. Agreed, though, that the modern Persian face is horrifying -- and to me, the modern Oriental Shorthair/Siamese face is equally horrifying in the other direction. Bring back the appleheads!

Creaky, here -- let me tuck you in, and here's a lovely stuffed (un)plush kitty to snuggle with.

[whiterabbit]

EddyTeddyFreddy, I have an apple-head blue-point Siamese. They're out there.

I'm at work so I can't link to a picture because they won't let me into the site where I have it.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Originally Posted by whiterabbit

EddyTeddyFreddy, I have an apple-head blue-point Siamese. They're out there.

I'm at work so I can't link to a picture because they won't let me into the site where I have it.

A Googling of "applehead Siamese" brings up flocks of sites and pictures of those utterly gorgeous cats. Of course, the show ring spits on them, just as it spits on Persian cats with traditional heads.

If you want to see just how horribly misshapen the modern Persian is, go here and scroll down to the comparison of a traditional and modern Persian cat skull.

My little old lady Sophie, a stray I took in, is what Persians used to look like before they were distorted into monstrosities.

[Terrifel]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

Well, I have to say that waking up in the morning to find Bat Boy on my chest, staring into my eyes, would have a high degree of likelihood of freaking me out, but I see your point.

Oh I'd have the same reaction, but it'd be the same with any cat, because when they do that they are trying to steal your soul. Also, I don't own a cat, so what the fuck is one doing on my chest?

In fact I once woke up in that exact situation. A couple years ago my apartment complex was going through a prolific stray cat phase, and one of them kept teleporting into my apartment. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how he was doing it at first; I thought he must have been hiding outside the door and sneaking in lightning-quick when I came home. Eventually he decided to advance the relationship to sleeping companionship, which was the final straw. I chucked him into the bathroom with the intention of killing him in the morning, but then he scratched on the door so much that I had to let him out just to get any sleep. Not that I did anyway, spending the rest of the night in dread anticipation of a disgusting flea-bitten stray cat beaming in and snuggling up against me again.

Having read Pet Sematary, all this was profoundly unsettling to me. At last I figured out that the little bastard was getting into my apartment by climbing under the building, and slithering up through the gap in the woodwork around the kitchen plumbing.

[Jettboy]

I don't think he's necessarily ugly; maybe just unusual to the point of surreal.

[Robot Arm]

That's a face only a mother could lick.

[whiterabbit]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

A Googling of "applehead Siamese" brings up flocks of sites and pictures of those utterly gorgeous cats. Of course, the show ring spits on them, just as it spits on Persian cats with traditional heads.

I am in full agreement with you concerning both Siamese and Persian cats. I think the breeders have gone waaaaaaay too far with both. At least I don't worry about whether the show Meezers can breathe and eat, though. Poor Persians.

[Boyo Jim]

Bat Boy, allow me to introduce you to Sam, the ugliest dog in the world.

Here's another one of Sam.

Bat Boy isn't even in the same league.

[olivesmarch4th]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

Bat Boy, allow me to introduce you to Sam, the ugliest dog in the world.

Here's another one of Sam.

Bat Boy isn't even in the same league.

Oh my god. That is terrifying.

[AngryIrishLass]

Sam looks like a gremlin.

[Sierra Indigo]

I watched a Criss Angel special (I know I know) once. It was a Halloween special, and he had Sam on as a "Demon Cat" and they kept dubbing his barks with this horrible fake "Cat Screech".

Also, I think ugly cat ain't so ugly. If his mane were a different colour as mentioned, and properly groomed, he'd be quite striking.

[Chronos]

I don't know, that cat looks rather dignified, to me. With his fur the way it is, it looks almost like a lion's mane.

I heard a story once of a family whose dog had a litter of puppies on them, and they were trying to get rid of them. They ran an ad in the paper for two weeks "Eight beautiful puppies, free to a good home", but had no takers. Then they changed the ad to "Seven beautiful and one very ugly puppy, free to a good home". Within two days, they had adopted out the ugly one eight times.

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by Chronos

I don't know, that cat looks rather dignified, to me. With his fur the way it is, it looks almost like a lion's mane.

I heard a story once of a family whose dog had a litter of puppies on them, and they were trying to get rid of them. They ran an ad in the paper for two weeks "Eight beautiful puppies, free to a good home", but had no takers. Then they changed the ad to "Seven beautiful and one very ugly puppy, free to a good home". Within two days, they had adopted out the ugly one eight times.

We had a similiar thing happen with a moma manx cat that showed up at our place bursting with kittens. Very shortly we had 8 or so baby manx cats.

Several weeks of free! manx cats, narry a call. Changed the ad to "rare manx kittens, 100 dollars (or more in todays money) each".

damn phone rang off the hook.

Once we were fairly sure the people taking the cats would be responsible owners, we just gave em to them.

Never give away crap when you can sell gold

[pravnik]

Aw, he's a cutie.

[AuntiePam]

He kinda looks like the cat in the Bloom County comic strip.

[jali]

I want him! I think he's alien cute.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Does he know Ellwood?

[Terrifel]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

Bat Boy, allow me to introduce you to Sam, the ugliest dog in the world.

Here's another one of Sam.

Bat Boy isn't even in the same league.

"A widespread investigation of funeral homes, morgues, and hospitals has concluded that the unburied dead have been returning to life and seeking human victims. It's hard for us here to be reporting this to you, but it does seem to be a fact."

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by Chronos

I don't know, that cat looks rather dignified, to me. With his fur the way it is, it looks almost like a lion's mane.

"If I were king of the forrrest..."

[Beware of Doug]

Even an ugly kitteh is cuddly. Cuz hey -- kitteh!

[Creaky]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

...Creaky, here -- let me tuck you in, and here's a lovely stuffed (un)plush kitty to snuggle with.

Heh. They actually should make stuffed cats that look like that.

I would so buy one!

[Mudshark]

That is an odd looking cat.

[Bites When Provoked]

With animals, it's so hard to classify one as truly ugly. Even that cat is 'so ugly it's cute'.

The only thing I've ever found that'll make me think an animal is ugly is its personality - it could be the most gorgeous looking critter in the world, but if it's vicious I'll remain firmly convinced that it's dreadful. Case in point, my grandmother's cat - glorious long, smoke-coloured fur, but the temperament of a demon. Every time I looked at it, I saw an ugly cat - but on a purely superficial level, she was quite lovely.

[Declan]

Ack , thats a zombie dog

Declan

[Ragiel]

I'm of the aaawwwwww kyoot! persuasion. Never saw an ugly kitteh. I don't believe in them.

I wasn't sure there were ugly doggies either. But Sam has shown me the light.
He looks like the Crypt Keeper's favorite lapdog.

[Zyada]

He looks like an old grand dame fallen on hard times, still wearing the moth-eaten fur coat from her glory days.

[WhyNot]

Originally Posted by EddyTeddyFreddy

A Googling of "applehead Siamese" brings up flocks of sites and pictures of those utterly gorgeous cats. Of course, the show ring spits on them, just as it spits on Persian cats with traditional heads.

If you want to see just how horribly misshapen the modern Persian is, go here and scroll down to the comparison of a traditional and modern Persian cat skull.

My little old lady Sophie, a stray I took in, is what Persians used to look like before they were distorted into monstrosities.

So it's not just me, eh? This is going to sound dumb, but I'd convinced myself that what I grew up knowing as "Persians" were just long haired cats, and that I'd been wrong about what a Persian looked like, since Persians have pug faces! But no, they WERE Persians, but "Persian" has changed. Huh. Interestink...

[Bites When Provoked]

Originally Posted by Zyada

He looks like an old grand dame fallen on hard times, still wearing the moth-eaten fur coat from her glory days.

That is the perfect description!