This Striped And Spotted Cat’s Fur Is Mesmerizing The Internet

People can’t get enough of a cat in Kortenberg, Belgium, whose gorgeous fur has helped launched him to internet superstardom. 

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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Thor is a 3-year-old Bengal cat, a crossbreed of a domesticated cat and an Asian leopard cat.The controversial felinesare prized for their beauty, but someowners are unpreparedfor their “wild” behavior

  A first-generation Bengal is descended directly from one domestic and one wild parent, and these cats exhibitfairly “wild” behavior and are difficult to raise as pets, according to the Wild Cat Sanctuaryin Minnesota.

  But evenlater generationscan exhibit wild tendencies that make them tough to handle. The sanctuary writes that they get around 20 calls each month from owners who are trying to give up their Bengal cats.

  And some U.S. states and cities have laws banning or placing restrictions on Bengals.

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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Luckily for Thor, who has both stripes like a tiger and spots like a leopard, he appears to be very well-loved.
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  His looks are makinghim the hottestcat celebrity on Facebook and Instagram.
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Thor’s owner, Rani Cucicov, fell prey to Thor’s charms when she found him at a cattery in the Netherlands back in 2013.

  “We actually came to look at another kitten, but then the breeder said she had another one that was available and then she came with Thor in her hands,” Cucicov told HuffPost in an email. “We immediately fell in love with his beautiful ‘orange brown’ colors.”

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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Cucicovknew from the beginning that Thor wasn’t a felinethat you see everyday.

  “That’s because Bengals are not so very common like normal house cats,” she said. “In our neighborhood, everyone that saw Thor for the first time was surprised because they never saw anything like him.”

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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  “The funniest thing I read was that people were saying that Thor wasnt real and that we just photoshopped a cat and added a tigers body,” she said. “Of course this isnt true. Thor is real and definitely not photoshopped or anything. There are pictures with filters which we put on instagram or where we put more shadow etc. because the picture is too clear or light and, of course, we try to make him look best,but we never fake his colors nor photoshop him to look like a tiger or something.”
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Thor may look exotic and mysterious in photos, but Cucicov says he has his silly side as well.

  “He loves to chase flies!” she said. “That comes in handy for us because we don’t need a fly catcher in the house.”
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Apparently, Thor talks all the time and just keeps talking louder and louder until he’s given the attention he craves.
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  “Also, his favorite food are shrimps,” she said. “Whenever he sees or smells shrimps, he becomes crazy and screams through the whole house to get his shrimps.”
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Thoralso has a special ‘ritual’ before going to sleep. A couple of minutes before he gets to bed, he starts jumping on the walls in Cucicov’s living room or hallway, like he is a child whodoesn’t want to go to bed.
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  “After he calms down, he gets into his bed to sleep. So when he starts climbing the walls, we know it’s bedtime,” she said. “He also loves belly rubs when he lays on his back, and a paw massage is also allowed from time to time.”
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Right now, Thor is focused on being a house cat, but Cucicov admits the attention he’s getting has her thinking aboutthe possibility of calendars and posters.
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  Thor the Bengal/Facebook
  Shed want the proceeds to go towards charities that help animals.

  “Maybe this popularity of Thor is a chance to give more attention to animal rescues and shelters and give them a share in it,” she said. Because although we have not adopted Thor from an animal shelter, I have lots and lots of respect for the people who open their heart for the animals that are not wanted and who try to help them find their forever home!

Thor is definitely beautiful, but it may be better to look at him rather than be inspired to own a Bengal cat of your own.

Members of the breed are very active, and need a lot of mental stimulation. They also aren’t lap cats and don’t do well being left alone for hours, according to cat behaviorist Marilyn Krieger. And Krieger recommends that those people with their heart set on a Bengal should look into breed-specific rescues and give a cat in need a good home, rather than going to a breeder.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/thor-bengal-cat_us_57bc8e37e4b03d51368b1256?section=&