I know you’re not supposed to pick favorites, but I’nm just going to say it: Bengal cats are undeniably one of the most stunning breeds.

Of all the domesticated house pets, these cats look the most wild with their distinct leopard-like coats.

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Their unique look comes from carefully designed breeding between Egyptian Mau and Asian leopard cats.

Now, they are bred are pure-bred cats to easily keep the same desired genes.

They seem rare today, unlike tabby and calico cats which are everywhere, but they’ve been around since the late 1800s! And only until very recently, there were special licensing requirements to own these beautiful cats in most of the world because of their wild roots.

And you can see why. They look wild!

I’m sorry, but you can’t convince me this isn’t a leopard.

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Bengal cats come in different colors (including red, black, brown and grey) and can be born with a variety of patterns on their coat.

Sometimes they have sleek tabby-like stripes, and other times a beautiful spotted/rosette pattern.

7-year-old Thor is one such beauty that looks just like a leopard, tiger, or other big cat. But he’s the size of a regular house cat and lives in Kortenberg, Belgium. Not the jungle, where it looks like he belongs.

But you can see the resemblance!

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His adoring owners have made him his own Instagram page where they can share photos of his day to day activities.

And his striking, unique look has already drawn more than 220,000 followers to his page!

How could you resist that face?

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Bengal cats may look wild, but they actually make great house pets. They’re smart, energetic, playful, and are very affectionate!

They also get along well with dogs and children so they make a great family cat.

Just like most cats of any size, they love to climb and use the scratching post, but one surprising attribute is that they also love to play in the water. Who would have thought?

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Thor’s mama, Rani Cucicov, jokes that she is his servant… so you can easily assume Thor is the king of the house!

He even gets to sit in the King’s chair from Game of Thrones.

He looks like he belongs there if you ask me.

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She and her partner hadn’t originally planned on bringing him home, but it was love at first sight and they never looked back.

Thor is adored by his adoptive human parents, and everyone else who has the chance to meet him.

The funniest part of his story, and rise to social media fame, is how some people couldn’t believe he was real.

They weren’t just surprised, but literally didn’t believe it! There was a small conspiracy theory about this cat.

Cucicov told Huffington Post about the messages she received from disbelieving viewers.

“The funniest thing I read was that people were saying that Thor wasn’t real and that we just photoshopped a cat and added a tigers body. […] We try to make him look best, but we never fake his colors nor photoshop him to look like a tiger or something.”

It’s not too good to be true! This fantastic cat is not a myth, photoshop, or a figment of your imagination.

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You can follow him on Instagram for some stunning photos of him living his best life, and to learn more about what life is like with a Bengal house cat.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: The Spruce Pets, Instagram/BengalThor, Huffington Post, Wikipedia, Pet Helpful