A Brooklyn cat is claiming the title of largest feline in the city, but such a status is hard to verify, even for a cat that weighs 28 pounds.
Jonathan Zurbel, 42, the owner of Samson, a feline of the Maine Coon breed who stretches to 4 feet in length, was confident that his cat is the biggest in New York City, the New York Post reported. Samson, at 28 pounds, can eat up to six cans of wet food per day as well as his dry food. “He’s the [largest] cat in the city, and I welcome any challengers to step up,” Zurbel was quoted by the Post.
RELATED:Instagram-famous cat lends his fame to help domestic violence victims Such a record does not readily exist, as Guinness World Records stopped keeping track of heaviest pets in 1998 to deter people from overfeeding their animals, the company stated. They do, though, have an entry for the longest cat in history, a 48.5-inch Maine Coon named Stewie who died in 2013. “[Samson] is, by far, the biggest cat I’ve heard of, especially in New York City,” Dr. Lisa Lippman, a Manhattan veterinarian, said to the Post, which added that Samson enjoys being pushed by his owner around Williamsburg in a green pet stroller.
“He gets a lot of attention from strangers,” Zurbel said to the Post. “People’s reactions are often, ‘Holy s–t! Is that a cat? That’s a lion! Is it a bobcat?'”
Samson, who celebrated his fourth birthday on July 11, according to his@CatstradamusInstagram page, has over 13,000 followers on that social media platform alone and has posted 1,361 pictures to date, no small feat on a sitealready crowded with cat competitorsvying to stay famous with their easily sharable feline snapshots.
“If there’s one thing that rules the internet, it’s cats,” Zurbel said to the Post. “It didn’t take long to build an organic following.”
