A monstrous three-year-old Maine Coon cat bigger than many dogs might just be the longest cat in the world – but the owners of the current title-holder say their moggy has gotten even bigger and remains the champion.

Stephy Hirst, from the Melbourne suburb of Croydon, started an Instagram account for her 14kg (31 pound) cat Omar two weeks ago. The popular Cats of Instagram account, which has amassed more than 8 million followers, featured Omar which then led to a major jump in traffic for Omar’s account.

She told the Maroondah Leader newspaper that she was then contacted by officials from Guinness World Records, who told her Omar might be the world’s longest cat.

Omar measures 120cm (3 feet, 11.2 inches) from head to tail, according to Hirst. The current record-holder is Ludo, a Maine Coon from West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, who was measured at 118.33cm (3 feet, 10.6 inches) long in October 2015.

The owners of Ludo posted on Facebook: that “he’s grown lots since he was measured in 2015 so we know he’s the longest still.”

In a remark some might call catty, they wrote, “The Guinness World Records haven’t contacted us this year to see if Ludo has got any bigger or is even alive and well all they’ve done is ask other big House cat owners to apply for a record attempt, I’m guessing it’s because we refused to take our pet cat 200 miles to promote their book on ITV’s ‘This Morning’.”

But Hirst told the BBC that staking Omar’s claim to fame is “not important” to them.

“He’s just looking forward to napping on the trampoline, chowing down on some more kangaroo [meat] and trying to keep us awake at night,” she said.

“I think he’ll be glad to go back to being a normal house cat.” Credit: Instagram/Omar_mainecoon via Storyful