‘Colonel Meow's longest piece of fur was around nine inches long’: The surprising story of the rescue kitten who at three weeks old broke a guinness world record for the cat with the longest fur in the world

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Dec 26, 2025 4:00 PM EST

Now, Boxing Day is a day that we have become used to being a day in which we get blown away by the many exceptional deals on offer at our local superstores. But this year, we decided that we would offer an alternative to the overly commercialized tradition of the Boxing Day shopping spree and instead offer the overly cute concoction of curious cat facts to blow your mind instead. From the abandoned kitten who survived a childhood of illness to become a record holiday cat, to the marvelous maine coon cat and their massive size.

So we recommend settling in to a cozy spot, preferably after having vacuumed the house, because most of the facts we have lined up are to do with cat fur and we would like you to enjoy these facts with the knowledge that your immediate surroundings are clean and fur free. And once you have done that, dive into the deep pile of fur filled feline facts.

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  • 01
    "The longest-hair ed cat ever was a rescue."
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    The longest-haired cat ever was a rescue. Her name is Sophie Smith, and she's a cutie. She's no recognisable breed, and it's unsure what she's got in her, because she was a rescue – at three weeks old she
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 03
    was found by rubbish truck drivers and handed to Tara Smith who took her in. She had health problems, being so young and apart from her mother, but pulled through and grew up fine and healthy - and fluffy. When she was
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 04
    two years old, Tara decided to check whether there was a Guinness record for longest hair on a cat, mostly just for fun, and found that there was: a cat called Colonel Meow, who REALLY looks like he deserves that record.
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 05
    And name. And rank. Tara had a good giggle, but upon finding that Colonel Meow's longest piece of fur was around nine inches long, she measured Tara's and found that it was longer.
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 06
    Some hairs on her tail were found to be almost eleven inches long, under impartial conditions. You can kinda tell, can't you? Bonus fact! Due to all the extra surface area of hair, even an average short-haired
    via GandalfTheUltraViole

  • Well, that is certainly quite the impressive life story and length of fur to find on your cat child. Though it must make it a nightmare at home to stay on top of. It is tough enough keeping up with the shedding of a hooman woman in a home, but if you then add to that a cat with record breaking fur length that rather easily compares to and even exceeds the length of an average woman’s hair, well, then you have quite the hairy situation at home. We can only hope they had a well made vacuum cleaner to hand.

  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10590906624
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    cat has the actual surface area of a ping-pong table. In one of the best studies I have ever read, scientists found that a creature covered in hair actually has around 100 times the surface area it
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    I would if it were shaven. A honey bee, for instance, has the surface area of a piece of toast. A sea otter's is a hockey rink. And the best part of this study: it was done by astrophysicists.
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    I decided to give you another bonus fact!
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    Now here's a thing: a Persian Long-hair. Along with the Maine Coon, they are one of the largest cat breeds and exceptionally good hunters.), the Persian Long-hair is considered to be one of the longest-
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 12
    furred cats in the world. It is very obviously a product of selective breeding. Bonus fact within the fact! It just seemed to fit better here than at the end. The two physical traits which
    via GandalfTheUltraViole

  • Honestly, it is rather tough for us to imagine a maine coon as an adept hunter. They just seem so clumsily large for their size and species it just feels as though any prey they would approach would see them coming from a mile away, find themselves as safe spot to hide in and then laugh at that oversized giant would-be predator as they lumbered on by. But maybe maine coons do not deal in mice and rodents, maybe they go after bigger prey…

  • 13
    are selected for breeding among cats are fur and snout - and interestingly, we really like both ends of the spectrum. There are long-furred cats like the Persian, and no-furred cats like the Sphynx (although they actually do have hair
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    50%
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    - they just can't retain it, it doesn't ever grow to even half a millimetre) We like to have cats with squashed-in faces - again like the Persian - and cats with long pointed faces-again like the Sphynx. No
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    conclusion to draw from this fact, it's just a fact. Now when we hear the words "selective breeding" or "artificial evolution" or some variation on these, one of the assumptions we make is that since
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    humans had a hand in the evolution of these breeds, they have traits they would not have in the wild. Enter the third- longest hair on a cat breed: the Norwegian Forest Cat's. Norweigan
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 18
    Cheezburger Image 10590906368
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    Forest Cats are not the product of artificical selection, and they are among the fluffiest cats in the world. So why did the Persian need that in the first place? The hint is in the Pallas Cat. The point is better made in this picture
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 20
    though. (Pallas Cats are... grumpy) The Pallas Cat is not considered to be one of the longer- haired breeds, but they're able to fluff out like a damn ball. That's because their fur - and that of the Norwegian Forest
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 21
    Cheezburger Image 10590907648
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    Cat, although to a lesser extent - is incredibly thick. The point of a thick coat of fur is to survive in very cold environments, which both these wild cats need to do. For the Norwegian Forest Cat, the length of
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    their coat is more of a side effect than anything else, although it does make for some gorgeous cats. If you don't understand punnett squares or all this talk about genotypes and
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 24
    phenotypes, you can educate yourself here or here (or both) or you could just skip this italicised bit. The gene for long hair in a cat is recessive, so both parents need to carry the long-haired gene
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    Cheezburger Image 10590908160
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    to pass on to their offspring. Two long- haired cats cannot have a short-haired cat, but two short- haired cats can have a long-haired cat. It's kind of like muggleborns and squibs.
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 27
    Assume that T = the gene for short hair and t = the gene for long hair. This punnett square shows how two short-haired cats can produce a long- haired cat. This punnett square shows how two long- haired cats have no
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 28
    possibility of producing a short- haired cat. If you want further explanation here, just let me know. Now, it wouldn't be Cat Facts if it didn't come with a warning, so here it is ― earlier I used the -
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 29
    Cheezburger Image 10590908416
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    words "one of the assumptions we make", and here is the other: when a domestic breed has been the product of artificial evolution and has a distinctive physical trait, it's likely to have health problems. And this is true for the Persian
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
  • 31
    and many other long-haired breeds. They come with health risks attached. I found one which had lived to 19.5 years, which is very rare for Persians. They are plagued with breathing difficulties and their coats make
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    Cheezburger Image 10590907392
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    them very susceptible to fur/skin-based diseases, such as mange. However, this fact has also proven that long- haired cats do not have to be susceptible to such diseases. If you are going to buy an
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    exotic breed, I recommend you check your breeder's history, as there are shortcuts to getting these physical traits, but which increase health risks. Same as any other breed of animal.
    via GandalfTheUltraViole
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    Cheezburger Image 10590906880
    via GandalfTheUltraViole

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