25 Pics of Lions, Tigers, and Other Big Cats Blepping Because Really, They’re Just Housecats With a Size Upgrade

Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor

Nov 14, 2025 9:00 AM EST

We don't know if you guys are aware, but we have a running joke here at ICHC (that isn't really a joke because we mean it very seriously) that one day, we will end up on the news. Not for making any changes in the world worth mentioning. Not for curing cancer or solving world hunger. No, we will one day end up on the news for trying to pet a cat that we should not have tried to pet.

Too many cat videos on the internet, that's what we blame. Too many videos of people living their best lives among big cats. People hanging out with lion prides like they're all best friends, people napping next to cheetahs with no problem at all, people playing around with jaguar cubs, and everything ending up just fine. So… why can we not be one of these people? Sure, we don't have the training or the history with cats like these, but that, in our humble opinion, doesn't matter. At the end of the day, a cat is a cat, and maybe - just maybe - if we're nice enough to it, they will let us pet them. Like any other cat.

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via @Catsillyness
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via @ThePetsX
And this, ladies and gentleman, is why we have such a hard time listening to people telling us that it is “dangerous” to try and pet big cats. Because look at them. Now look at your cat at home. They are the same thing, and no one can convince us otherwise.
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via icant-chooseone
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via reddit
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via reddit
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via reddit
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via Not-0P
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via reddit
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via Vince50
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via Unikay14
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via photo_photographer
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via donnydoesreddit
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via uluman
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via LeCrunchyFrog
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via reddit
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via reddit
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via reddit
Like- look at that. Does that not just look like a regular house cat to you? One with a couple extra unique stripes? Because that is what it looks like to us, and we will not hesitate to attempt to pet it one day when the time comes.
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via penguinberg
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via Suchy499
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via @malking
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via Diaboiliad
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via Pizzaceratops
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via RAND_bytes
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via smasheddirtbox
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via ProfessionalSir3395