The rescued puma cannot be released into the wild, so he have to live as a spoilt house cat

A Russian couple lives in a small apartment with a large and odd roommate. Aside from its size, the 90-pound puma has a well-known moniker.

Messi is his name, and he is one of soccer’s most famous players. Messi, the puma, was originally observed by Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev at the Saransk Zoo in Penza. The lovely cat was just eight months old at the time.

At the zoo, he was one of three cubs born. The other two, Suarez and Neymar, were also named after legendary players to commemorate Moscow’s hosting of four World Cup matches.

Messi was sold to the Saransk Zoo when he was just three months old. He was having health problems while he was there.

The puma has captured Mariya and Aleksandr’s hearts at first sight. As a result, they decided to make an appeal to the zoo in order to purchase him.

Aleksandr, 38, had long dreamed of owning a huge cat, according to his wife Mariya:

“He always thought about having a lynx – never a puma. It’s hard to explain but we believe that having this puma is part of our destiny.”

“We had three days of thinking hard about whether it was moral to keep a puma, and whether it was common sense to have one. But nothing could fight our sudden wish,” Mariya, 28, claimed to the Mirror.