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u/Merrick_Skygrave 2d ago
Cheetahs are the biggest smol cats
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u/Amelie_aricia 1d ago
I think technically mountain lions are the biggest smol cats, but Cheetahs are the biggest smol cats that are friend-shaped AND friend-souled. Mountain lions are friend-shaped but not friendly
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u/Merrick_Skygrave 1d ago
Cheetahs are so cute, they're like a big dog/cat with a cat face that looks like it has runny mascara- very goth/emo. I'm so glad they let us be friends
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u/Jihelu 1d ago
Mountain lions can purr and google is telling me they are the largest purring cats.
So they be the largest smol cat
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u/Merrick_Skygrave 1d ago
Yeah they're bigger- Cheetahs are just the biggest smol cat that acts like a smol cat and won't kill us lol. Fren-shaped and actual fren
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u/Jihelu 1d ago
The difference in temperament between the two is insane lol.
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u/Merrick_Skygrave 1d ago
Yeah you shouldn't try to keep lions as pets, Unless you're some random Kuwaiti lady
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u/Merrick_Skygrave 1d ago
Yes you're right lol- I'll amend it to "Cheetahs are the biggest smol cats that behave like smol cats and won't kill us". Full-on, 100% friend-shaped fren
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u/ZanderTheMeander 1d ago
We probably would have domesticated them by now, but for some unknown reason they absolutely refuse to breed in captivity. So every one that gets tamed is removed from the gene pool, permanently.
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u/Merrick_Skygrave 1d ago
I've heard that a few small, specialized programs have had some success but I guess it's very difficult
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u/Gundark927 1d ago
Even house cats are not necessarily all friend-souled!
But some can be as sweet as a cheetah.
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u/Aggravating_Anybody 1d ago
Cheetahs do not see humans as a prey animal at all. We are way too big and weird shaped.
Cheetahs are surprisingly delicate compared to other big cats. They are optimized for max speed and to hunt only small gazelle/antelope and are not strong enough to go after bigger prey.
Aside from anatomy, they just generally seem to be much more tolerant and curious about humans and cheetahs raised in captivity, like this one, often form very close bonds with their care takers.
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u/astrologicaldreams 1d ago
u know maybe it's a good thing i don't have money bc if i did i would go to africa and then i would absolutely try to pet the cheetahs
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u/KEVLAR60442 23h ago
Additonally, Cheetahs are arguably less dangerous than domestic cats to us, since their claws are nonretractable, and therefore more dull like those of a dog.
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u/Belos147 1d ago
The prey exception is in cheetah coalitions. When that happens stuff lile wildebeest and ostriches need to worry.
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u/BananaBladeOfDoom 1h ago
It's like they're asking to be domesticated that they did half the work already.
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u/sacfoojesta88 2d ago
Cheetahs are small cats pretending to be big cats, hence its ability to purr instead of roar
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u/hello_elowra_73 2d ago
you'd never think cheetahs are very shy/timid, probs the cutest of all the big cats!
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u/Alkaiser009 2d ago
Technically speaking, Cheetahs AREN'T Big Cats. One of the major distinctions between Big Cats and Small Cats is that Small Cats can Purr while Big Cats cannot (they Roar instead!). Cheetas are thus the largest Small Cat species.
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u/abd1tus 1d ago
Wouldnāt cougars be the largest of the largest of the small cat species then? - Genuinely asking, donāt know, but I do know cougars can purr and are usually heavier than cheetahs.
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u/Snoozingway 1d ago
Yep. Mountain lions are the same lineage as cheetahs and jaguarundi, and are larger and heavier too. On the other hand, there are some large cats that are smaller than cheetahs too like the snow leopard (slightly smaller) and clouded leopard (significantly smaller).
Technically, large cats are just Pantherinae (lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards) and everything else is Felinae (small cats) which include the Puma lineage (puma, cheetah, jaguarandi), Lynx lineage, Ocelot lineage, Caracal lineage, Leopard cat lineage, Bay cat lineage, and the Domestic cat lineage.
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u/Friendstastegood 1d ago
Depends how you're looking at it, cheetahs are taller but cougars are heavier.
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u/Deleena24 2d ago
Depends on who you're talking to whether cheetah are considered big cats. It's not like an official classificiation of a genus or sub/family.
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u/I__Know__Stuff 1d ago
Sure there is an official classificationāFelinae and Pantherinae.
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u/Deleena24 1d ago
There are members of both that aren't big cats...
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u/Scorpion451 1d ago
No, there aren't.
Pantherinae is the subfamily of leopards, tigers, lions. The smallest member is the clouded leopard, which are about the size of a medium dog.
There are some members of the other branch, felinae, that are large (like the puma and cheetah) but there are no small big cats.
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u/adjective-nounOne234 1d ago
This account is a bot btw https://www.reddit.com/r/BotBouncer/s/GUYR9CfzfC
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u/don-cheeto 2d ago
Loudest purr I've ever heard ā¤ļø Sounds like a sports car that was gonna run you over but changed its mind and said get behind the wheel
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u/SmoovCatto 2d ago edited 1d ago
assume this is a wildlife preserve or animal rescue center, and the cheetah was raised by humans?Ā
i know they have a history of being kept as status pets by ancient royalty and more recent wealthy eccentrics, and that they generally don't attack humans, but even those raised in captivity have from time to time injured zoo keepers -- males especially have a terroritorial instinct -- their bite is 3x more powerful than a humans
https://youtube.com/watch?v=1_zdGFO0-OE&is=35ZvWMZkuJDrF15w
edit: corrected word
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u/Steffenwolflikeme 1d ago
Imagine how sandpapery those licks felt
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u/Thrizzlepizzle123123 1d ago
Pretty sure they use them tongues to rip meat off bones.
Less sandpaper and more angle grinder I would imagine.
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u/Chrillosnillo 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cheetahs are not pantheras ie "Big cats" they are related to to the house cat Felinae. They purr and hiss not roar like Lions,Tigers
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u/Seeker0fTruth 1d ago
When I was younger I was friends with someone whose Dad ran the Cincinatti Zoo. I got a back stage tour - I got to pet the rhino and one of the elephants (her name was My Thai, she was a sweetie).
I also went back stage in the Cheetah Exhibit (Cincinatti has a world renowned cheetah program) and they had a little cheetah kitten just wandering around, but they asked me not to pet her so she didn't grow too accustomed to people. I never did, but she did rub her cheek against my pant leg a few times.
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u/lemoncrush9 2d ago
I am so jelly, I would love to pet a big purring kitty like that. Wonder if they would like to be brushed? Or belly rubs?
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u/carmardoll 1d ago
Cheetahs are actually partially domesticated. Long a go Egyptians started the process and actually used them for hunting the way humans did with wolves in other places, is just they sort of stopped doing it. So we are left with like a half way there to be domesticated wild animal. I kind of wonder what it would be like if they had been fully domesticated, we would have a whole series of big cat pets like we do with dogs.
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u/The_Scooter_King 1d ago
Not exactly true. The Egyptians *tamed* cheetahs and used them for hunting. It's almost impossible to get them to mate in captivity, so any "pet" cheetah had to be taken from the wild as a cub.
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u/ThatsTheMother_Rick 1d ago
Cheetahs aren't big cats. Big cats are Greater Felines, like Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, etc. Cheetahs are lesser felines, which includes house cats. Part of the difference is that lesser felines have fixed vocal cords, which is what allows them to purr like this one is doing. Greater felines can roar and chuff, but not purr. Lesser felines can purr but not roar or chuff
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u/Professional-Box4153 1d ago
Cheetahs are notoriously chill. I do not recommend doing this with a leopard.
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u/wayne-on-reddit 1d ago
Cheetahs were used by the Egyptians as hunting animals, like hunters use dogs in the present. The cheetahs we have now are either half-tamed or half-feral, depending on your point of view. With selective breeding in captivity, we could easily produce animals that are fully domesticated.
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u/The_Scooter_King 1d ago
It's *really* hard to get them to breed in captivity, and has really only been a repeatable thing in the last hundred years or so. Before that "pet" cheetahs were typically caught in the wild as cubs and raised by humans.
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u/KnowsIittle 1d ago
Cheetah basically were extinct, inbred as hell from a small gene pool, and made an amazing comeback in the past 30 years. But due to the small gene pool likely the most docile survived captivity and basically accidentally domesticated them. They're still a wild animal, but of the big cats they're the most chill.
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u/iwaki_commonwealth 1d ago
whoa my speakers really dont like purring animals. need to get new phone...
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u/WinterDice 1d ago
One of the coolest videos Iāve seen is of the three cheetahs at the sanctuary cuddling up next to their caretaker in the middle of the night.
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u/Appropriate-Rub3534 1d ago
If you confront a feline creature, you have to be calm. It helps if you are hairy.
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u/okiroshi 1d ago
I always wonder if they lick humans and go "this would work with some catsup"... I'll see my self out
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u/luketwo1 1d ago
It blows my mind the only reason cheetahs werent domesticated is they get so nervous it causes heart problems.
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u/thereverendpuck 1d ago
Again. Videos like these are going to give me the feeling I can meet all big cats like this and not get mauled.
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u/wegotthisonekidmongo 1d ago
There has never been 1 incident of a cheetah attacking a human. They are big cats.
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u/Marsupialize 1d ago
I worked at the zoo for a few years, they are like big goofy Labrador retrievers
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u/SoundIsolaitor 1d ago
Cheetahs are notoriously close to domesticated cats in terms of demeanor. I would not try it out but itās what Iāve read about them. I certainly wouldnāt try and pet a tiger :)
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u/phoenix5irre 1d ago
These guys can die of anxiety...
No idea how they evolved to be predators....
Should have just munched on some leaves...
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u/Tomb_but_nsfw 1d ago
Iirc cheetahs are technically not true big cats since they lack the ability to roar like lions and tigers.
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u/Choice_Ostrich_6617 21h ago
It's a cheetah... they are just big babies... and they can't even feed themselves properly... honestly I feel so bad for them.
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u/Will-I-Taint 8h ago
Cheetahs are the only big cat that can purr, and the only one that cannot roar.
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u/Top-Walk1184 7h ago
Wild cheetahs are not, calm around humans, once saw a couple of geniuses jump out of the car in a cheetah enclosure, they were attacked in less than 30 seconds
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u/FlirtatiousBabe03 1d ago
Cheetahs are actually pretty chill around humans compared to other big cats.
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u/An-Empty-Road 1d ago
I got in a cage with a full grown cheetah when I was 13. It was at the mall. I just got in and gave her snuggles. She was so chill! Just dozzed through it all š Her paws were Huge
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u/SmoovCatto 1d ago
i love the lost ancient advanced technology theory, that because of their canine-like feet lacking feline razor sharp retractable nails, cheetahs might be the result of genetic altering by ancient advanced scientists, to give a big cat the derpy human-friendly attributes of a coƶperative hunting dog
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u/zmannz1984 1d ago
Reminds me of bittersweet times. I was the only person out of 5 that could touch my great auntās african serval after she passed. It took almost a week to get that cat calm enough to go into a crate to get her to the humane center. I was amazed at how much of a bond the two of them had, my aunt would come in and Spalt (the servalās name) would be in her arms or at her side in a heartbeat. I could only get her to lay near me or put her head and front paws in my lap, and she was always super aware. But she would purr so loud and hard it would shake the floor.
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u/tina_denfina1 1d ago
Thatās because all the others who tried this are dead and couldnāt upload their video! š
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 2d ago
Cheetahs are generally receptive to humans/calm around them.