When a woman named Stephy Hirst from Australia chose her new kitten Omar, the Maine Coon cat was the same size as his siblings. He was big, since Maine Coon cats are a larger breed, but he wasn’t anything above average in size.
But as he got older, the cat kept growing…and growing…and growing!
Soon, he was a contender for the Guinness World Record title of World’s Longest cat!
Stephy was certainly surprised to see how big her cat got.
“We were expecting a 9 kilo [19 pound] cat,” Hirst told the Maroondah Leader (via Global News).
“He got to that [length] before he was one year old, and that’s when we sort of realized that he’s not nearly done yet.”
Now that he’s full-grown, Omar measures a whopping 120 cm (47 inches) and weighs more than 30 pounds!
Hirst says, on a typical day, Omar wakes up at about 5:00 am. He then eats a few cups of dry cat food for breakfast, relaxes around the house, and goes outside to play in the yard.
After his regular play session, the long kitty stretches out for a nap on the trampoline, before gorging on a delicious feast of raw kangaroo meat.
“It’s the only meat we could find that he actually wants to eat,” Hirst said.
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This big guy, however, has been banned from the bed.
“He does take up a bit too much room… so he gets locked out of the bedroom at night,” Hirst explained.
Hirst created an Instagram account for Omar where he immediately caught the eye of cat lovers everywhere.
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When one of his photos was shared on the popular Cats of Instagram account, Omar became an instant celebrity— and that’s when Guinness World Records contacted Hirst requesting his measurements.
“All of our friends want to come over and see our cat,” Hirst told the BBC. “The say ‘is that Photoshopped?’ or ‘that can’t be real’ and then they see him in the flesh.”
In order to be considered the World’s Longest Cat, Omar will have to beat the current title-holder, another Maine Coon named Ludo from Wakefield, Yorkshire. If the reported measurements are correct, Ludo is 118.33 cm (or 46.5 inches) long — making Omar about half an inch longer.
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While Omar is certainly long, he didn’t quite set the world record. Another Maine Coon named Barivel has taken that honor. The cat is 3 foot 11 inches — just a little bigger than Omar.
Still, even if Omar isn’t the absolute longest cat on the planet, he is very long! And it’s adorable to watch him grow up and play on his Instagram page.
Watch Omar’s story below!
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