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Cat suffers from rare condition that makes them gain insane muscle mass

Published 15:50 3 Dec 2021 GMT

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Purina gains.

A cat has gone viral on Reddit for being an absolute unit. But it's not because of any special diet or training regime, with the cat actually having a rare condition that makes animals gain insane amounts of muscle mass. According to the Reddit user who posted the image, the cat suffers from Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, a rare condition that causes an animal to continue building muscle even though it might not be intending to.

Reddit users were stunned by how stacked the feline was.

One wrote "I bet he purrs like an engine," to which a second person wittily replied: "Like a hellcat." Google it if you're still confused.

Another said: "Cat gonna cuddle you into submission."

A third added: "This the cat she tells you not to worry about." [caption id="attachment_304072" align="alignnone" width="640"]

The cat suffers from Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy - a rare condition that causes muscles to grow excessively large (credit: Reddit)[/caption] Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy is a condition that happens when there are deficiencies in the myostatin protein in creatures as a result of a mutation in their genes. Myostatin inhibits muscle cell growth, so when there are issues with it, muscle mass piles on to an extreme extent. Cattle, sheep, dogs and humans can all suffer from Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy. And it seems like we can add cats to that list as well now.

Popular Science writes: "Each of us has two copies of the gene encoding myostatin. Inheriting one mutated copy makes you heterozygous for the gene, and animals with that pattern are unusually muscular and strong without being so obviously abnormal that people write case reports about it. "It's only when you're homozygous, meaning you have two mutated copies, that you become something of an anomaly." The condition is often not a good thing for animals suffering from it though, with many species negatively affected by the extra bulk, especially if they require on speed and agility to survive and breed. Related links: B&M is selling hanging egg chair for cats and its only £55 Man evicts girlfriend after she ‘kicked out’ his cat Passenger on flight ‘breastfed cat and wouldn’t put it back in carrier’