Red Dirt Diaries: Oklahoma Ambassador Of Savannah Cat Breed

Oklahoma is now home to one of the tallest cats in the world and you won't find it at the zoo. Instead, it's at a home in Norman!

“He's pretty much a ham,” said Deborah Ann Millette.

Motzie isn't your ordinary cat.

He's a Savannah.

"They have that fluky gene that makes them grow larger like a liger or tigon," she said.

From floor to shoulder, his owner said he's nearly 17 inches.

But Millette said she cherishes his heart a lot more than his height.

“He calms me down. He keeps me grounded,” she said.

Which is good because Deborah, a Vietnam vet, who you may seeing purring down the street in her car, has claws too.

Motzie, who Deborah called the second tallest Savannah in the world, was on top the world.

“He was everywhere,” she said.

Ribbons, trophies, even the cover of Savannah's Illustrated. Yes, it exists.

But feline fame came with a price. Another Savannah owner, envious of Motzie's cat show-winning good looks, turned Deborah into the authorities. Turns out, Savannah's are illegal to own in several states including New York.

“I said why. They said ‘because they eat children.' I said, ‘excuse me.'”

Deborah said she was ordered to have Motzie and her other Savannah put down.

“And I said over my … dead body I will.”

Motzie and Peanut were smuggled from New York to Oklahoma overnight. They are now free to chase their tales and Motzie is back on top.

She was invited to her first cat show in Germany Deborah and her cats leave in a couple weeks.

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