Cat's Unusual Muscular Physique Wows Social Media Users

A Sphinx cat has soaked up the spotlight on social media after its exceptionally buff physique was shared online.

In the picture above, the feline put its muscular physique on display as it gracefully looks out the window with its paws extended, while resting on soft furnishing.

Its outstretched limbs showcase its prominent shoulders, tremendous paws and ripped torso, with its muscular physique all the more visible due to its lack of fur.

According to the Reddit user who shared the image online, the cat suffers from a rare condition called “myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy” - which causes reduced body fat and increases the muscle size in the body.

The rare condition causes individuals to continuously build muscle, even though they might not be intending to.

Ever since the photo was posted to Reddit on Thursday, it has garnered more than 86,000 upvotes.

Many social Reddit users have shared their thoughts as they marvelled at the well-built physique of the cat.

One user commented: “I bet he purrs like an engine.”

While another funnily imitated how they believed the cat would speak to their owner after being disciplined stating: “No Sarah, I don't think that I will get off the table.”

Another user jokingly said: “He opens the pickle jar for me”.

Although the image provided plenty of laughter, some users were concerned about the health of the cat, as one user asked: “Is he actually suffering? Or will he be alright?”

But of course, the serious enquiry was met with a hilarious reply from another, who stated the cat was simply, 'suffering from success'.

As science explains most bodies are made up of opposing signals which inform our body to either grow muscle or stop the muscle from growing, to ensure our bodies are kept balanced.

But if the myostatin protein is insufficient, the individual can increase their muscles to the point where they begin to imitate the physique of a professional bodybuilder.

In fact, other animals such as cats, cattle and sheep, as well as humans, have shown evidence of lacking Myostatin.

However, the condition is fairly rare and only comes about during a mutation in a gene process.

As Popular Science explains: “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.”