The Lyova cat is an ordinary black and white cat. He doesn’t look special, there are thirteen animals like him on the street or in the village. But in fact, he is unique. Although cats are considered indomitable and only obey commands they please, Lyova is a unique creature, capable of making even the best-trained sheepdog blush with shame.
Where does a unique beast come from?Petr Chursin, the current owner of Lyova, a pensioner from Kaliningrad, says about his dog: his grandson Petr Chursin (by the way, also Petr) once served as a border guard in the Russian-Mongolian border. And shortly before the end of his service, he asked me: “Grandpa, do you mind if I take the kitten with me? At first, grandfather was surprised: “Petya, why spend money and drag a cat across Russia? I’ll grab you a whole bag of them on the street!” But the grandson insisted: “No, grandfather, that does not exist!”
And for good reason: the kitten, an “illegal migrant” (he was born in Mongolia) turned out to be unique. First, the mother cat brought him to the outpost. All the other kittens in the litter were drowned (alas, this barbaric method of population control is practiced even in Russian villages – otherwise they would have been full of cats), and the last one was dragged to the neighboring territory on along a rut of a road unpaved by mother’s teeth. According to Peter the Younger, the cat was severely exhausted from the journey: he could not hunt, but he fed the kitten and hissed furiously at people. After a while, the cat got a little fatter, recovered from its journey – and eventually ran back to a steppe yurt. The kitten, meanwhile, settled in the outpost, and the team leader, the same Peter, the grandson of a pensioner from Kaliningrad, became its owner.
Second, the cat turned out to be easy to train. Indeed, you cannot force a cat or a cat to do something that it does not like: they are not pack animals, but solitary predators, and they generally do not possess the innate discipline of dogs or cats. wolves, which makes them unconditionally obey the orders of the leader, who may be a human master. But this particular kitten, Lyov, proved to be quite willing to do whatever his master asked of him. And now he demonstrates the miracles of training, which no service dog can boast of.
What can a cat do? Peter Petrovich began to train cats when Lyov was about six months old (it is impossible to say for sure: a steppe or semi-wild country cat does not receive a birth certificate). But as a result, Lyov eagerly carries out 22 orders, 12 of which relate to sports training. Kitty:
Willingly follows Peter Petrovich on a leash, keeping exactly one step away from his leg.Overcoming all sorts of barriers and obstacles.At the command, he jumps onto his owner’s lap or shoulder at the exact moment he needs it .These are just a few of the tricks Lev can do. On the videos, which have already made the rounds of the internet, his appearance is not that of a lethargic and stuffy biorobot, but that of an ordinary cat, just a little agitated by the fact that a strange person stands nearby with a camera. He wants to do the command himself – and does.
Petr Petrovich says he has a phenomenal memory: show him a trick once – and he starts performing it with varying degrees of success, and skill comes with practice. The cat might be able to learn 222 tricks, not 22, but its owner doesn’t want to torment Lev, whom he has long considered a member of his family. Chursin considers his greatest achievement to have been able to find an individual approach to Lev. “Love and patience – that’s the main thing. I found my soul mate, didn’t I, Leovochka?” – says Peter Petrovich, and the cat rubs his cheek, purring.
“A cat ! Half a kingdom for a cat!” The clever cat couldn’t help but end up on smartphone cameras, and from there on the internet. Therefore, since 2018, there are quite a few videos of Lyov walking on a leash, jumping and obeying commands online. It’s no wonder people became interested in this unique cat.
As Peter Petrovich says, it has not happened that he was offered a large sum (up to 450,000 rubles) and a new car for a unique cat. The owner refused and will continue to do so. Lyov is not just a pet, he is a member of the family. Even the necklace he wears is a pearl reworked by Chursin’s late wife: his wife, who had a purring cat by her side shortly before his death, comforting his beloved mistress, had asked for it herself. Petr complied with his request.
Petr Petrovich does not agree to sell the beast categorically – friends are not for sale. But he is always happy to have a creative union. He doesn’t mind Lyova being filmed or photographed and was thrilled when a sculptor from Svetlogorsk wanted to carve the cat.
