Is there such an animal as a 'Cabit'? My Grandfather assures me he saw one when he was a kid in a rural area?

Question

He said he saw a mom and several kittens/bunnies. He didn't call it a cabit, I heard that from someone else. Hesaid they were half cats and half rabbits. He said decades later he saw pictures of some found in Texas.

I know, technically, they aren't supposed to breed but horses and donkeys can breed. Maybe a same thing?

I am only looking for personal experience/belief.

Answer 1

Yes!!!!!...I have seen them to ..once my girlfriends male rabbit mated with her cat (we saw it happen...yuck)...but no fooling a couple months later the cat had uhhhh well cabits or kibbits whatever you want to call them ...it was the strangest thing I ever saw but they were kinda acute to in a bizzare kinda way.

Answer 2

Rabbits are rodents, and cats are feline, and as such, the chromosomes would not match up.... one may physically breed the other, but no offspring could result, so either your granddaddy is teasing you, or he saw a cat with very long hind legs that hopped, or a rabbit with very short legs that tended to walk

Horses and donkeys, on the other hand are both equidae -- and as such can indeed interbreed, to get mules, or jennets depending upon the cross --- which is sire, and which is dam. And horses have been crossed with zebras to get a zorse, and tigers with lions to get ligors... The problem with some of these crosses is firstly they are mostly sterile (mules are usually sterile) and ligors have severe structural problems --- you can probably google it to find out more....

By the same token, we can breed with in families too closely..... purebred dogs have more health issues than crosses, and we have law against marrying sisters and brothers for the same reasons ---- children more prone to disease.... And this was really evident in the royal houses of Europe in the 1800, with, in particular, Russian czars....one child carried hemophilia from the British royalty

Answer 3

A friend of mine raises sheep and goats. One of her goats had a "geep", but it was born dead.
I know what you are talking about as I saw the same pictures.
There is a breed of cats that has long legs, but there is no such thing as a "cabit". This was a hoax in the '60's.
Horses and donkeys can breed, but the result is a sterile jackass.
I doubt very much if a cat and rabbit did breed, there would be not be any resulting live births. Even is one did live, it would be sterile.

Answer 4

It is not physically possible.

This is because to breed an animal has to have the same amount of chromoses in their dna. However rabbits have 44 chromosomes and cats have 38 chromosomes. Thiss means that it is impossible for them to breed together.

The onyl reason donkey's and horses can breed is as they have the same amount of chromosomes in their dna and they are gentically very similar.

To learn more about chromosomes go to the first link and for proof of numbers go to the second.

Answer 5

I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that it was just a mutation that gives a normal cat longer lower legs making it look as if it had the rear legs of a rabbit.

edit: wikipedia calls it a myth, but lacks details.

Answer 6

Cabit is a actually spelled Cabbit.
It's a FICTIONAL cross between a cat and a rabbit.
If your Grandpa saw pictures they were taxidermy jokes ...
like the jackalope.

.

Answer 7

I think your Grandfather is having a great deal of fun pulling your leg...:) My Grandfather used to tell us about jackalopes in Texas.

Answer 8

Here's an interesting discussion on it...

http://www.messybeast.com/cabbit.htm

Next time he mentions it, I'd ask him if it looks anything like the jackelope you saw the other day....

Answer 9

No, but there is such a thing as a rat.

Answer 10

similar to a nauga I think, same family I think