The Cabbit: Real or Fiction?

The Cabbit, a seemingly fictional character that finds its way into stories such as Japanese anime and manga. However, is it possible that such a hybrid exists in the world? For those of you who may never have heard about a Cabbit, it is allegedly the hybrid of a cat and a rabbit. Most commonly, the front half of the animal looks just like a cat, while the back end of the animal looks just like a rabbit.

Many people in the world believe wholeheartedly that Cabbits are 100% real, while skeptics claim that these hybrids are really just Manx cats who have genetic mutations. The fight between the two sides can be quite ugly, with both sides insulting the other's intelligence.

However, for an animal that is “impossible” to breed, there seems to be a lot of Cabbit videos on YouTube. People question the Cabbit's existence because they claim that a member of the Feline family can't procreate with a member of the Leporine family. They feel that they just aren't compatible enough to create a life together. Part of this has to do with chromosomes.

Rabbits and Cats have different chromosome numbers, therefore they cannot reproduce together. Though this makes no sense when you compare to those well-documented hybrids. There have been known hybrids that have a difference in Chromosome numbers, for example, sheep and goats differ by six just like rabbits and cats. However, sheep and goats have been known to on occasion produce hybrids together.

But, they have different gestation periods so how can they reproduce? While it is true that the gestation period of a cat is much longer than that of a rabbit; a month to be exact it's still not “impossible”. Again, you need to look at well-documented hybrids.

The Cama for example(The cross between a dromedary camel and a Llama) The dromedary camel and the Llama has a difference in the gestation period of two months, and yet they can produce a hybrid. The same is said for the Wolphin. Which are the hybrid of a false killer whale and a dolphin. With a gestation period difference of about 3.5 months. It's rare but not impossible.

Another excuse is that they are too different genetically. The problem with that is every hybrid's parents are genetically different. The amount and nature of differences that preclude a hybrid are unknown. Therefore, this excuse is just that an excuse.

Well, what about the difference in their anatomy or their evolutionary relationship? But the truth is that parents in a hybrid cross typically differ in anatomy, and it is unknown how different two animals can be and still produce a hybrid. It is also unknown how distantly related two animals can be. We just know it sometimes happens.

Hybrids are sterile, but many hybrid crosses produce fertile or at least partially fertile offspring. When looking at the Manx, though it is technically fertile, and considered a breed of cat, it is only partially fertile. So there is no reason to rule out the possibility that Manx cats are actually Cabbits.

Manxes aren't as fertile as ordinary cats, they produce a high percentage of inviable offspring. This is attributed to the “Manx gene” but is undeniably a trait of a hybrid. For instance, you can't mate a tailless Manx with another tailless Manx, but you can mate a tailless Manx with a tailed cat. This is interesting because you can mate a hybrid with a backcross and get viable offspring.

So the question is are Manxes Cabbits?


Ironically, the back half of a Manx looks just like a rabbit, and they like to eat carrots, lettuce, and grass. These cats are beautiful and unique and whether they really are Cabbits or not doesn't really matter does it?

However, for a hybrid that they say doesn't exist a lot of people have claimed to see them over the years. It all started in 1845 when Joseph Train claimed Manx cats are the product of a female cat and a buck rabbit.

The San Juan Islander, December 6th, 1900, published an article about a family that claimed to have Cabbits in their possession. The Manning Times, February 27th, 1901, says that Richard Miller owned a Cabbit. The Lexington Dispatch, July 3rd, 1901, published a story claiming that Mr. N.H. Williams owned Cabbits. The Minneapolis Journal, January 27, 1903, also published a story featuring a cat-rabbit hybrid.

In 1917 a Cabbit was spotted in Texas, Culver Citizen runs an article in 1934 about 3 strange kittens that resemble Manx, the only trouble was there was no Manx in the area, and in 1936 a Cabbit called "Swamp Angel" featured in an American cat care book. Also in the 1930s, a woman claimed to see a Cabbit 22 years before.

In the 1950s, zoologist Dr. Maurice Burton describes a rabbit-like cat and in the 1960s there were Cabbit sightings in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. In the 1970s Harry Goodwin decides his Manx is a Cabbit, and in 1974 the Detroit Free Press published pictures of a Cabbit. In 1977, Val Chapman found a pink-eyed white Cabbit in New Mexico. It appeared on the Johnny Carson Show twice in 77 and in 78. However, Zoologists claim this is impossible and identify it as a cat.

Marian Ritcher claims to have a Cabbit only two months later, zoo officials reject the idea but Dr. David Osgood, professor of Vertebrate Anatomy at Bulter University, Indianapolis cannot disprove the theory. Val Chapman's Cabbit is mentioned on That's Incredible and it appears on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in the late 70s and again in the early 80s.

In 1996, Trevin Edgeworth saw a Cabbit, in 2001 a US Talk show feature a story about a Cabbit, and in 2002 two Cabbits were seen again, but a vet claimed while they will mate a cat and a rabbit can't produce offspring. In 2005, Manuel Ortiz recalls seeing Cabbits on TV, and in 2007 there was a white Cabbit featured on a Discovery Channel pet program. While a Georgia woman advertised Cabbits for sale.

It's hard to say whether a Cabbit really exists, but are you a believer?