Tree-mendous: world’s tallest cat tests out scratching post worthy of his stature
The world’s tallest domestic cat, Fenrir, will be seeing in World Cat Day (8 August) in style in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA, thanks to a very generous gift from his self-proclaimed “crazy cat dad”, Will Powers (USA).
Will has dedicated a section of his house to his pride of pet cats, which include Fenrir, Altair (a former record holder of the longest tail on a cat) and several others, who as a collective have garnered an online following of feline fans on Instagram (@starcats_detroit).
Their luxury “catchelor pad” has its own outdoor “catio” (accessed via a 8 x 5 x 5 ft litter-tray passage), a bespoke pinball machine that is themed around Will and his cats (admittedly that is more for humans!) and now a special addition that is guaranteed to level up both playtime and naptime: a life-size artificial tree that stands 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in). The one-of-a-kind climbing frame is the tallest residential cat-scratching tower.
“I’m a cat dad, that’s just where my priorities are at. I drive a 2015 jeep, but I’ll build something like this for them,” Will lays it out simply when asked what motivated him to em-bark on this extreme endeavour.
“They give their whole lives to us, and I have always felt like they deserve to be treated in return with the utmost care and priority in exchange for that.”
The super-realistic structure, which includes twisting branches, a crow’s nest platform at the top, a hollow centre with carpeted steps, nooks and crannies to hide in and even a series of bracket fungi running up the trunk like a staircase, was crafted from some 950 kg (2,100 lb) of concrete.
Even the textures of the bark, additions like creepers and the final paintwork have been finished with painstaking detail to resemble a real tree.
It was designed and constructed over several months by sculptor Arend Smith of Ravendark Creations, who specializes in fantasy-themed art. He has previously built tree replicas, but this was by far his largest commission to date and the first time he had to bear in mind that pets would be the ultimate end-users.
“I knew I wanted to build such a structure for almost 10 years,” Will told GWR. “But I struggled to find the right artist capable of realizing such a project. I happened to be at the Michigan Renaissance Festival when I encountered one of Arend’s smaller trees. I was astounded by how intricately detailed and impressive the sculpture was.
“My brain was confused as the tree had obvious fantasy elements incorporated into it, but it looked so realistic that I doubted my own eyes for a moment. When I saw that tree, I knew I’d finally found the artist capable of making my vision a reality.”
The end product has vastly exceeded my hopes and dreams. I was worried I’d end up with a cat-tastrophy but instead it’s the cats’ meow for sure – Will Powers, cat dad to the tallest living cat and now-owner of the tallest residential cat-scratching post
Arend explained the brief he was initially tasked with: “The primary focus was on the strength, safety and useability of the tree for the cats… My challenge was to create something as beautiful as I could given those constraints.
“In the end, my design was so strong that Will can safely climb on the fungi steps to clean the various parts of the tree when needed.”
I’d love to work on other, large-scale pieces for pets! I currently have two more tree character pieces scheduled for next year but neither of them will be for pet use. I definitely see myself doing more work for zoos or private clients like Will for animal use though - Arend Smith, designer and sculptor of the record-setting cat tree
And the most important opinion of all: what have Will’s feline friends made of the tree since it was completed this summer? “Depends on the cat!” he admitted. “Despite his size, Fenrir is the most scared of new things. He was rather unsure about it, and mostly just patrolled the base before deciding to take a nap inside the inner structure.
“Altair was intrigued but aloof as always, but the Bengal cats – Hyperion and Polaris – went wild over it, and climbed from top to bottom! Recently, I inherited Dustin – a full brother of Arcturus [more on him below] of GWR fame. I expected Dustin to be timid and fearful as he’s been through a lot of change lately, but to my surprise, he was the first one to roost in the crow’s nest at the very top!”
Will is certainly no stranger to world records involving feline feats of epic proportions. Back in 2016, he introduced GWR to not one but two of his larger-than-average pet cats, who would go on to be verified as the tallest domestic cat and longest-tailed domestic cat.
Starting on a high note, Arcturus was a Savannah – a cross between a pet cat and a serval, which is a wild species native to Africa. Savannahs have been a registered breed recognized by The International Cat Association since 2001.
Arcturus (aptly named after a red giant star) was truly a giant among giants, standing 48.4 cm (1 ft 7 in) tall at the shoulder; the average for a Savannah is between 36 and 43 cm (14–17 in). Not only did this make him the tallest living domestic cat in 2016 but he’d also smashed the all-time record.
Moving on to a longer tale, Cygnus was a Maine Coon – a breed widely acknowledged to be one of the largest among all domesticated cats. Indeed since 2010, the position of longest cat has been squarely occupied by a Maine Coon. The most recent to claim the title was Barivel, with a full extension of 120 cm (3 ft 11 in), as confirmed in Italy in 2018.
The longest cat ever, meanwhile, was Stewie (more formally Mymains Stewart Gilligan), a Maine Coon from Nevada, USA, who at full stretch reached a staggering 123 cm (4 ft) from nose to tail tip in 2010; he passed away in 2013.
A key feature shared by all Maine Coons that contributes to their extreme length is their extra-large, super-fluffy tails, and this is where Cygnus particularly excelled. At 44.66 cm (1 ft 5.6 in), his was the longest tail on a domestic cat to be measured at that time.
Tragically both Arcturus and Cygnus died after a fire broke out at their house in 2017. While the incident was, of course, devastating, this wouldn’t be the last we heard from Will and his record-breaking cats. A few years later, a ray of hope pierced through the tragedy which meant that, in a strange twist of fate, the records were able to remain within the family.
This is because the parents of both Arcturus and Cygnus gave birth to new litters, in the former’s case unexpectedly late in life. Seeing this as a sign, Will eagerly took on some of the resulting kittens in order to preserve a link to the beloved pets he had lost. With record-breaking genes clearly running in both family lines, two of these kitties proved to be just as superlative as their departed siblings.
When assessed in 2022 at the age of just under three, Savannah cat Fenrir – Arcturus’ younger brother – measured in at 47.83 cm (18.83 in) high, making him the tallest living domestic cat. At the same time, Altair – younger sibling of Cygnus – claimed his elder brother’s former title of longest tail on a domestic cat, with a swishtacular 40.83-cm (1-ft 4-in) appendage.
While supersized Savannahs Fenrir and Arcturus retain their titles for tallest living domestic cat and tallest domestic cat ever, respectively, to this day, both Altair and Cygnus have since lost their titles for the longest tail. That crown recently went to another Maine Coon by the name of Mr Pugsley Addams, hailing from Minnesota.
According to Will, he doesn’t consider it strange to have given over so much of his house (or indeed time and money) to his treasured cats: “The cats having their own domain dedicated to their things is important, I think. I try to give my cats a life that approximates the kind of stimulation they would have in the wild.
“Having their own dedicated ‘territorial space’ which doesn’t tend to change or have people in it always moving things around is something they seem to really like. They spend most of their time in that room when I’m not home, playing or snoozing or enjoying the outside.”
Plans for the cat habitat are ever evolving so it’s unlikely the record-breaking cat-scratching tree will be the end of the home improvements. “Thankfully now the tree is complete, I can continue working on a giant terrarium in that room to add more ‘cat-ertainment’,” Will revealed. “In regards to the catio, thankfully the upper deck is complete, but I’ve been trying to seed the bottom level of the catio with local Michigan moss now for about two years. It’s finally starting to take over and spread underneath, and I look forward to the bottom tier of the catio being a fully lush moss garden!”
When not chilling out on the catio or exploring his new indoor tree, Fenrir takes his duties as the world’s tallest living cat very seriously, following in the pawprints of his elder brother, Arcturus.
As well as working as a therapy cat, regularly helping to de-stress and entertain patients at his dad’s surgery (Will is a physician), the pair often travel in their own time to local animal shelters and other cat charities to help raise funds and awareness. In fact, Will emphasized that if any feline charitable causes in the Michigan area are seeking some extra hands (and paws) to volunteer, then they’re always happy to hear from them.