Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - While most cats which we encounter on a day-to-day basis are relatively small and fluffy, there are those out there in the wild so huge that they shock even zookeepers.

While you might not want to keep Hercules as a pet, we can totally understand why those who live in South Carolina might want to give him a visit.

Far larger than your average domestic cat, and even bigger than a lion, this extraordinary feline is the animal world record holder for being the oldest living cat.

How did he become so huge, and what do you need to know about this furry friend?

The largest living cat is a bloke called Hercules, who measures 131 inches in length, 49 inches in height, and a weight of 922 pounds. As you have probably guessed, this is no normal domestic tabby. Instead, Hercules is a cross between a lion and a female tiger – a "liger," if you will, and he is not kept in someone's house, but in a safari park in South Carolina.

This absolutely humungous kitty is unbelievably adorable and unbelievably sweet, a true character and a truly loved animal. He was awarded the title of largest living cat in 2013, after being examined by Guinness World Records while living at the Myrtle Beach Safari reserve. His weight and size was confirmed to not be due to obesity, and he received the trophy.

Astonishingly, Hercules consumes the weight of a small child in meat every single day, about 30 pounds, and has at time even been outbid for his title of "biggest cat" by his brother Sinbad, who is a little bit taller. There are few cats that even come close to Hercules' size, though, even among the many lions and tigers that prance around out there in the wild.

Over the years, Hercules has made a name for himself with appearances on all sorts of television programs. He has even been on the likes of the Today Show and Good Morning America – he is a true celebrity cat! Trained by one Bhagavan Antle, this was one well-behaved kitty even if he was enormous.

Hercules has many impressive traits, sure, but nothing will ever be able to surpass his pure size and weight. This is one enormous cat, and he knows it.

Hercules is so massive due to a combination of his genetic lineage and the fact that he is a typically huge breed. In fact, ligers are generally believed to be the largest felines in the world, often reaching longer than 11 feet in length and weighing more than 800 pounds.

They are extremely rare cats, largely because it is extremely uncommon for male lions to mate with female tigers. It is believed that imprinted genes, those which were held in the DNA of the parents but didn't show themselves in reality, play a role in making these massive cats as huge as they are.

There are a few other things that ligers inherit from their parents as well. For starters, the liger has a faint set of stripes that make them look like tigers, but a little bit lighter and less pronounced, with a sandy rather than orange color. Their faces are very much a hybrid of lions and tigers, without the mane of the lion, but a more similar shape and color.

Ultimately, Hercules is so massive because of his genes, as well as the benefits that come with captivity. This is a cat that has been provided with plenty of food and exercise and has been allowed to continue to grow and grow without the need to worry or hunt for its next meal.

Hercules is one of the most remarkable cats in the world, and deserves all the love that we can give him. That being said, there's no way that we're letting this beast sleep on the bed!