# Dog eaten by cat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520 "2005-12-29T00:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sharkattack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@sharkattack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharkattack)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/1 "2005-12-29T00:53:17Z")
Humans have made incredible aberrations of certain species of animals through the breeding process….horses, cattle, and dogs. There seems to be far fewer extremes in the common house cat. Is it possible to breed a Great Dane size cat, or a mouse size feline? I understand that most dogs were bred in a certain way for a purpose, but is it possible to make such incredible changes in the “house cat” species. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/2 "2005-12-29T01:08:04Z")
[Link](http://www.messybeast.com/giantcats.html) with probably more than you wanted to know on this subject. > [@Sarah Hartwell](#): > > genetic diversity in cats is far less than it is in dogs for the simple fact that dogs have been selectively bred for many centuries, giving a far longer time period in which the mutations could occur or be noticed and be perpetuated. Some of those mutant genes would have existed in the ancestral stock (i.e. prior to domestication) but remained hidden because nature did not select for those traits. Following domestication, humans noticed and bred the traits they found attractive. By contrast, cats have only been selectively bred to create distinct breeds since the mid 1800s. [Another link from the same site](http://www.messybeast.com/dwarfcats.html) about dwarf cats. ---
**Author:** ![sharkattack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@sharkattack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharkattack)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/3 "2005-12-29T02:05:05Z")
Anna, A perfect article that explained what I was wondering in very easy to understand terms. Thank You! SA ---
**Author:** ![lonesome\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@lonesome\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lonesome_loser)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/4 "2005-12-29T02:06:42Z")
Just get a Maine Coon Cat. The largest was 48" from tip of tail to nose. That’s a big house cat. Makes toy poodles sweat bullets. cite… [http://www.verismocat.com/htmscripts/leo-guinness.htm](http://www.verismocat.com/htmscripts/leo-guinness.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/5 "2005-12-29T03:05:08Z")
Well, surely some doofus’s pet tiger got loose in the suburbs at some point and snacked down on his neighbor’s chihuahua. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/6 "2005-12-29T18:32:22Z")
The other thing is, a tiger-sized house cat would be, well, a tiger. I have a 100 pound dog that I’m perfectly comfortable around. I’ve also had a 10 pound cat. And if my cat weighed 100 pounds I wouldn’t have him in the house. I can think of dozens of times where I petted him in a manner displeasing, and he swatted my hand with open claws. If he was 100 pounds that swat would have sent me to the emergency room. In a lot of ways cats are still wild animals, at least much wilder than dogs. And cats are pound for pound much stronger and fiercer than dogs. A 10 pound cat could kick a 10 pound dog around all day every day. A 100 pound cat is gonna scare the piss out of a 100 pound dog. And a 100 pound cat would scare the piss out of me too. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-eaten-by-cat/337520/7 "2005-12-29T20:37:02Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And if my cat weighed 100 pounds I wouldn’t have him in the house. I’m not sure you’d have a choice (mental image of the closing theme of _The Flintstones_).