# What would happen if you put a platypus and a cat in a room together? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565 "2012-02-12T00:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/41 "2012-02-14T15:43:03Z")
Shit, for some reason I thought they were waaaay \*bigger \*than that. Ignorance fought! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/42 "2012-02-14T16:18:33Z")
**Argent Towers** , you disappoint me. This was not an interesting question. But you have asked many interesting questions in the past, so I forgive you. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/43 "2012-02-14T16:46:06Z")
**galen ubal** – I went to the _possum_ site you posted and was intrigued with that critter. We have a marsupial in the States called an _opossum_ that most people (at least in the South) call a “possum.” Ours is not as cute as yours, unless your definition of cute includes “looks like a huge rat.” Actually, they usually look like a huge _flattened_ rat, since they are notoriously prone to being road kill. Old joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it could be done. > **[Opossum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum)** > > Several; see text > Opossums (/əˈpɒsəm/) are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia (/daɪˌdɛlfɪˈmɔːrfiə/) endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America. > The Virginia opossum is the only species found in the United States and Canada. It is often simply referred to as... ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/44 "2012-02-15T02:02:04Z")
> [@Ura-Maru](#): > > Wikipedia says .7 to 2.4 kilos, and 50-40cm. (1.5-5.3 lbs, and 20-17 inches) So, about half the size of a cat. What the hell kind of cats do you get around your place? ---
**Author:** ![D.Fenestrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@D.Fenestrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.Fenestrator)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/45 "2012-02-15T02:24:37Z")
My cats are over 12 lbs each, and they seem about average to me… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/46 "2012-02-15T02:28:57Z")
Yeah, my sixish month old kitten is just over 6 pounds, and she’s not nearly full grown yet. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/47 "2012-02-15T03:56:50Z")
Ah, never mind then. I was thinking in terms of length, not weight. For some reason I have always been hopeless at picturing weights. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/48 "2012-02-15T06:31:13Z")
Ive seen feral cats take down massive rats. Cats are hunters and can decimate any rat if they hunt it properly. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565/49 "2012-02-16T22:19:28Z")
Yeah, platipusses are much smaller than you think. It seems most people picture them about the size of otters or small seals; I’d say they’re about half that big. 17" seems about right - at first, it seemed a little big, but then I held my hands “yay” far away from each other and it’s probably close. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-you-put-a-platypus-and-a-cat-in-a-room-together/612565.md?page=2)