by Michael
The title of the World’s Tallest Domestic Cat has recently been awarded to a Savannah cat called “Trouble”. I am sure he is no trouble at all, judging by the pictures that I have seen. He seems a very laid back cat. But Savannahs are pretty active and very athletic.
And he is of course very large for a domestic cat. He measured 19 inches to the shoulder beating Magic by 1.9 inches. He looks the size of a small serval (a medium sized wild cat). Also judging by the way he can stretch up, he should qualify as the world’s longest domestic cat, surely? That title is currently held by Stewie, a Maine Coon. Perhaps Guinness don’t let a cat own two titles simultaneously!
I believe the pictures are by Jeff from Aadnesen Savannahs Cattery. I have taken the liberty of publishing them here to spread the word about Trouble and his record. I hope Jeff is OK with that. The images are protected by copyright.
You can see confirmation of the title on the Guinness World Records website (if you can find it – their search facility is awful).
Trouble was born and raised (until the age of 3 months) at Savannah Island Cattery by Debby Maraspini. The cattery is in the USA. The USA is the home of the Savannah cat, which as you might know is a wildcat hybrid: a serval crossed with a domestic cat, usually a Savannah cat.
The measurement was conducted at the Silver Cats Cat Show at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno on October 30, 2011.
As mentioned, the former world record was held by the famous Magic, a fabulous F1 Savannah cat born and raised at A1 Savannahs in Oklahoma.
As I understand it, Guinness World Records stopped doing cat records for the world’s smallest and fattest cats as it encouraged people to behave irresponsibly in either overbreeding or overfeeding. You can see how that can happen.
What do think about world records in relation to cats? The world’s biggest cat is a Liger, a lion/tiger hybrid. Personally, I don’t like crossing wild cats to produce commercially useful animals.
However, Trouble is a fantastic cat and a deserving holder of this title.
Best
