Most people are used to being able to pick up a cat and cuddle it with no effort. That might not be such a wise idea the next time you encounter Lotus, the Maine coon cat who reigns over a corner of the internet.
Lotus looks less like a regular domestic house cat and more like a small lynx. But his personal Instagram account shows him lolling on chairs, sniffing at treats in the kitchen, and even enjoying a windy day at the beach. It’s easy to see why Lotus’s pale, puffy fur and funny faces have earned him 75,000 Instagram fans.
He seems to enjoy napping most of all. But Lotus’s pictures show him having plenty of fun, too. When he is alone in a picture, it’s not immediately obvious just how big he really is. When he’s shown beside his owner, though, you may start to wonder if he’s really a big cat or actually a small lion.
People think the cats are descended from forest ancestors or even raccoons.
Lotus’s owner hasn’t revealed his actual size, but Maine Coons are no regular cats. They routinely get up to 18 pounds, so it’s no surprise that people who come across them in the woods sometimes think they’ve run across a bobcat. Maine coons get their size from their ancestors, the Norwegian forest cats, who are still around and almost as big. Part of their size definitely comes from their luxurious fluffy coat, which is made for living in the snow.
Some people think that Maine coons are descended from domestic cats mating with raccoons, but there is no real evidence of that. However, most Maine coons are a deep brown color. This makes Lotus even more striking than usual with his golden cloud of fur.
See more pictures of Lotus on Instagram.
There are plenty of Instagram-famous kitties.
There’s no doubt that the internet loves its cats. In fact, Lotus isn’t the only cat with an Instagram account. There’s also Gli, popularly known as the Hagia Sophia cat. Gli lives in the beautiful, ancient structure of the Hagia Sophia. It’s a building that was beloved to the peoples of two major world faiths and now stands as a testament to history. Thousands of people visit the Hagia Sophia each year. The lucky ones get a glimpse of Gli.
The chubby, slightly cross-eyed cat has the run of the ancient structure. She has quite the life, cuddling up to tourists, eating scraps, and napping in the warm floodlights used to illuminate the building. People from all over the world upload their pictures with Gli every year. She appears to be quite friendly, happy to jump onto a strange lap if it means getting a scratch behind the ears.
Gli has lived in the Hagia Sophia for 14 years.
“Her favorite spot inside Hagia Sophia changes depending on the weather,” said Hagia Sophia tour guide Umut Bahçeci. “In winter she loves standing right in front of the projector light that illuminates both the nish, the altar, and the minbar, the pulpit because it’s very warm.”
She is less than impressed by her grand surroundings.
Bahçeci added that when Gli is feeling a little overwhelmed by all the love, she takes shelter in a special roped-off area: the place where kings were once crowned in the Hagia Sophia.
As tourists move around her, snapping pictures of the ancient architecture, Gli seems unimpressed. This is her place to nap and groom himself. Leave it to a cat to be underwhelmed by almost 1,500 years of history.
You don’t need looks to have Instagram followers.
A prime example: Princess Monster Truck, another famous Instagram kitty. Her unusual name fits her, because she is both beautiful and a little bit startling to look at. Princess Monster Truck hails from New York City. This pretty Persian has a fabulously fluffy coat and a pronounced underbite. Monster’s owners came across her unexpectedly on the streets of New York.
The vet had an interesting reaction.
“Her hair was totally matted, she was really thin, and obviously hungry,” her owner said. “When we took her into the vet, and after they stopped laughing about her, I had to ask whether they thought Monster was born that way or whether something happened to her. The vet assured me that this looked like a condition from birth the way her jaw was structured, and these kinds of thing happen commonly in Persian breeds.”
Now, Monster is an advocate for shelter animals. There’s nothing at all wrong with her. She just looks a little goofy. But she doesn’t mind. She knows that she can take her place alongside Lotus and Gli in the Instagram Cat Hall of Fame.
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