It’s Stewie, a Maine Coon male from Reno, Nevada. This tom is one long drink of water: he measures 48.5 inches from nose to tail tip—more than four feet! It’s a new Guinness world record, and you can see a video of the official measurement here.
But is there exploitation in his future? Already Maru has appeared in a Fresh Step cat litter commercial, and now Stewie is poised for teh dosh:
Of Stewie’s future as a potential celebrity, Hendrickson said, “First and foremost, if Stewie doesn’t want to do something, we will not make him. We hope that Stewie can bring joy to others like he has brought to us.
“He really likes people, especially kids. We hope that maybe Stewie can visit classrooms to help awareness of animal welfare. We also would hope that he continues to be the great guy he is. But it wouldn’t hurt to see his picture on a bag of cat food. Or maybe sponsorships to cat shows. I think it would be great if Stewie was known worldwide. Mostly though, I hope he makes people smile.”
Heeere’s Stewie:
Does his stomach drag when he walks? That’s what I want to know!
Hahah look at the look on that cat’s face..”Mommmmmm! You’re embarrassing me!!!”
Somehow I am reminded of Garrison Keillor’s song ‘Grandmother’s cat’, which contained a dire warning about letting your cat become bigger than yourself
I can’t find the audio or lyrics online, so you’ll just have to buy the CD http://www.theseriouscomedysite.com/showreview.php?r_id=269
(Which unfortunately means supporting this Lutheran homophobe, but life is full of difficult choices)
I love his “Cats of [Johnny] Cash” medley.
He doesn’t seem as bad as you make him out to be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor#Controversies
Keillor is quite the mixed bag. He’s quite the storyteller…but he also has some quite unpleasant skeletons banging on the closet door.
Read this bizarre rant of his, for example — and don’t neglect reading both pages:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-12-16/news/bal-op.keillor16dec16_1_silent-night-unitarian-christmas
Cheers,
b&
Read what he said from the source
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2007/03/14/keillor/print.html
And see if you can see the satire in it.
The issue of gay parenting is a serious one, Keillor claims marriage is ‘all about continuation of the species’ – this pseudo-Darwinian argument is straight from the legal argument brought to prevent gay people from fostering or adopting children. His defense of ‘some of my best friends are gay’ deserves little credit.
It’s a shame because I enjoy him as an entertainer.
It didn’t seem to me that he was going quite that far – the rant Ben pointed out seems worse, if understandable considering Keilor’s age & background. I wonder how he reconciles being married 3 times with that – however I think these two articles are the cultural moans of an older man who is nostalgic for what was a simpler world. My father went along the same lines to some extent in his latter years.
What I cannot forgive is his insults about arctic Norway – I have spent two delightful Yules there! Even in the rain!!!
There is an entertaining book from last year The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas which has plenty of entertaining writers on the issue –
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3xrjgxo
What a beautiful cat.
It makes me sad to think that there are so many sweet and wonderful cats out in the world that I will never get to know and pet. But that’s how it goes.
Cats are pretty amazing like this. Supernatural, even, I’m sure.
As I type, Baihu is sprawled upside-down on my lap to almost his full length — or, at least, he was until he just squirmed away mid-sentence. And I could swear that he was at least five feet long, end to end.
Keep in mind that he’s definitely on the small side of average; he might not even weigh ten pounds. (He’s in perfect health and ideally proportioned — lean but not skinny.)
Judging from that picture, I’d estimate Stewie’s full length, if he were to stretch as far as he could after waking from a nap, at well over six feet.
He’s a good looking cat. His torso does seem longer than most, but in a healthy way. That’s a great expression on his face; combined with his relaxed pose, I’m sure he and Hendrickson are great friends.
Cheers,
b&
Aha. An evolutionary prediction borne out.
Years ago the “critical distance” theory of why cats switch their tails while stalking was propounded in some bio course I was taking (tongue-in-cheek, to be sure, but propounded nonetheless).
The question was, why do cats, when stalking prey, and thus slinking up on their would-be victims stealthily, so often simultaneously switch their tails back & forth?
The hypothesis offered: in order to be successful, cats must get their lethal end (head/jaws) within a certain critical radius, i.e., close enough to the prey item so that the prey could not outrun the predator. Prey, OTOH, were constantly honing the proper flight distance, the distance at which it was more prudent to flee a predator, no matter the attention this attracted, rather than remain (ostensibly) hidden. Therefore the cat’s twitching tail, by causing the prey to concentrate on it, allows the cat to get its lethal end within the critical radius.
Prediction: selection for longer cats.
😀
Signal selection. The question I would ask is does Stewie have extra vertebrae – I imagine that would be unlikely. If not, what is different that makes him longer?
It looks like the lady is pulling a cat-apult.
Sorry. But now I’ve noticed it, the mental image dominates.
“First and foremost, if Stewie doesn’t want to do something, we will not make him.”
Stewie is a cat, there’s no way of making him do what he doesn’t want to do! Nice that they’re thinking of him though.
Ahhhh! I want one! I’d love to put a leash on him and take him for a walk around the block. Not a kitty thing, I suppose, but think of the yuks when he’d encounter a nervous little chomp of canine fluff. But, then, I’ve already got three cats, and a wife, and try as I might I can’t the missus to agree that a square is superior to a triangle.
I’m actually planning on seeing how well Baihu will take to a harness and leash. He’s strictly an indoor cat now, but he was born to a feral mother. He freaks out near other people…but he also stares longingly out the window at times.
If he takes to the harness and leash, I can try slowly re-introducing him to the great outdoors….
b&
“I’d love to put a leash on him…”
Or a saddle. That kitteh isn’t long he’s plain gigantic. Wow!
Damned Yanks. Even their cats have to be bigger than everyone else’s.
A beautiful cat, and always nice to see some news come out of my hometown! 🙂