Omar the Maine Coon: Meet the 1.2-metre longest cat in the world

A cat from Australia may soon be entering the Guinness Book of World Records, believed to be the longest domestic feline in the world.

Omar, a Maine Coon from Melbourne, is a remarkable 1.20m (3ft 11in) from head to tail. He weighs 14kg (31lb).

His owner Stephy Hirst told the BBC he was not unusually large when she picked him out of a litter of kittens in 2013.

But he grew and grew and grew. Now he has developed into a record breaking specimen.

Guinness World Records officials will soon take steps to confirm that he has surpassed the current holder of the longest cat record – another Maine Coon from Wakefield in England named Ludo.

"If Omar doesn't want to do something there's no arguing with him," Hirst told Australia's Sunrise Live, whose news crew found out for themselves when they visited Omar and found that he would not get out from under the bed.

"Omar's not really loving the fame," Hirst said. "He doesn't want to be on television."

Omar shot to prominence after an Instagram photo of him was shared more than 250,000 in two weeks in the popular Cats of Instagram group.

The giant pet sheds so much hair that Hirst and her boyfriend have taken to grooming him directly with the hoover, while his dietary habits are also peculiar.

"We buy human-grade kangaroo meat at the supermarket," Hirst told the BBC. "It's the only meat we could find that he actually wants to eat."