Couple Adopts Baby Puma, Now He’s All Grown Up And Well Mannered

When we think of adopting a pet, we usually imagine someone getting a cat or a dog, but this couple in Russia chose to adopt a bigger and more challenging furry baby: a puma cub.

How did this happen and what they thought of the strange addition to their family? Their story is so extraordinary, and now the puma is famous all over the world.

Let’s check out the cutest photo of the puma called Messi and see the couple’s adventures throughout the past years.

Living With a Celebrity

Today, Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev live in a studio apartment with their Sphynx cat called Kira and with Messi, the 90lb puma. The two felines are probably the most spoiled house cats in the world.

But how did the Russian couple get to adopt a puma?

Adopting a Puma

It’s quite uncommon to hear people adopting wild animals, but Messi’s story is unusual. He was born at a local petting zoo in Penza, Russia. They celebrated the birth of the cubs in the year when Russia hosted the World Cup.

Messi, Suarez, and Neymar were their three adorable puma cubs.

Messi Was The Smallest Cub

The three puma cubs were the attraction of the zoo, but Messi was only three months old when he got ill. According to a friend of the couple, that zoo was not the place where this cub would survive:
“Messi used to be in a contact zoo – an awful type of zoo, where animals live in small rooms with no equipment for them and every visitor can come in and touch them.”

The Couple Heard About Messi

When the couple heard about the cub and his situation, they began wondering if they could somehow hand rear him and save his life.

A while passed, and Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev finally decided the cub’s fate…