Cabbit Sightings in MN: Fact or Folklore?

I just came back from a really unforgettable weekend with my family in Stoughton, Wisconsin, staying with my older brother, his wife, and his three children. We actually made the trip to pick up some puppies that were being adopted by my other brother and his wife, as well as two other families that work with my sister-in-law.

We were talking about the puppies being adopted, who are a cross between a pure-bred German Shepherd and a pure-bred Dutch Shepherd. That led to reminiscing about raising pure-bred collie pups on our farm back in the 1970s.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A CABBIT?

Then we started talking about my Dad's pet rabbits when he was a kid, and our conversation turned to Cabbits, a term I've never heard before. Have you ever heard of a Cabbit?

IS IT GENETICALLY POSSIBLE?

A Cabbit is supposedly a cross between a rabbit and a cat. Now, it's not supposed to be genetically possible, but farmers in rural places believe it can happen.

I started searching the internet for cabbits, and I did find a few examples, such as this one in the video below.

A REAL-LIFE STORY

As Dad got older, he decided to give his rabbits to his niece, who lived right across from the farm. Back then, they had lots of cats on the farm, and it seems that one of those rabbits mated with a cat.

HOPPING KITTENS

There were kittens born that didn't live very long, but they were born with button tails, and hopped like a rabbit, but looked like a cat on the front.

Some people think this isn't possible, but after my dad told us the story, my brother said, "Yes! That is a REAL thing."

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A CABBIT?

So my question to you is, did you grow up on a farm here in central Minnesota, and have you had a litter of kittens that are cabbits?

There seem to be a few out there in the world that have survived, but experts say that they are not half rabbit and half cat. They say that they are a breed of Manx cat, known for their short or non-existent tails, but that is NOT what these kittens were. Maybe it's not supposed to happen, but I've heard time and time again that it does happen.  We have never seen Manx cats around our farm.