House cats are known for being such slender, agile animals, typically smaller than dogs, so it’s always fascinating to see a really big cat.
From long lanky cats to big “chonky” cats, we can’t get enough of these larger-than-life pets… but one cat is big enough for the record books.
Meet Omar:
Omar is a massive Maine Coon who was adopted by his owner Stephy Hirst in 2013. They live in Melbourne, Australia.
She told the BBC in 2017 that Omar was a a gigantic 3 feet 11 inches long, which makes him one of the longest domestic cats ever.
“All of our friends want to come over and see our cat,” Stephy told the BBC. “They say ‘is that Photoshopped?’ or ‘that can’t be real’ and then they see him in the flesh.”
Omar’s huge size made him a media sensation, and his Instagram account has over 147,000 followers.
He’s so huge that he eats a special, unusual diet: while he eats cat food for Maine Coons for breakfast, he chows down on kangaroo meat for dinner.
“We buy human-grade kangaroo meat at the supermarket,” Stephy said. “It’s the only meat we could find that he actually wants to eat.”
It’s just one of the many challenges of having such an unusually large cat. She also says she has to lock him out of her bedroom because he takes up so much room in bed, and since she can barely lift him she needs to take him to the vet in a dog crate.
And of course, being so long means he can also reach the kitchen counter with ease, a nightmare for any pet owner:
Still, his owners love Bentley, and say that despite his viral fame, he’s just like any other cat… namely in that he loves to sleep.
“He’s just looking forward to napping on the trampoline, chowing down on some more kangaroo and trying to keep us awake at night,” Stephy told BBC.
When he first hit became a celebrity in 2017, Omar had an unofficial claim at being the longest cat in the world: he was half an inch longer than the record holder at the time, Ludo, also a Maine Coon.
However both cats are topped by the current champ, Barivel, a Maine Coon from Italy who claimed the title in 2018, measuring 3 feet, 11.2 inches.
While Omar may not be the record holder, he can still be proud to be one of the longest cats in the world, while still enjoying his regular life.
“I think he’ll be glad to go back to being a normal housecat,” Stephy said.
What an amazing cat! Share these incredible photos of this one-of-a-kind feline!