Meet the world-famous Minnesota cat with a record-setting tail
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It’s not uncommon for Mr. Pugsley Addams to be fawned over. The nearly two-year-old Maine coon cat is often the center of attention in the Cameron household and lives among three other equally as beautiful Maine coons. But Pugsley, Puggy for short, has something that makes him stand out from his siblings — the world’s longest tail on a living domestic cat.
Measuring in at 18.5 inches, Pugsley’s tail was officially crowned number one by the Guinness World Records in March. Amanda Cameron of Orono said it started when friends, family and even the veterinarian would comment on the length of his tail. Soon, she and her kids decided to check out what the record was.
“I submitted the record a year ago, and we just remeasured it a month ago and it’s grown another two centimeters. It just keeps growing. The vets don’t know what’s going on,” she said.
The previous longest tail measured at 16.07 inches, belonging to a cat in Michigan.
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It’s possible the tail is so long due to extra or abnormally long vertebrae, but it doesn’t seem to be in the way — except for when family members steps on it accidentally. After a lot of paperwork, witnesses and a notary, the Cameron’s got word that Pugsley had made the world record and soon, the rest of the world found out too.
USA Today, People Magazine and more covered Pugsley’s story as the news spread to the U.K., Pakistan and Turkey.
“It’s been all over. It’s kinda crazy,” Amanda Cameron said. “I think people are really hungry for news that doesn’t suck right now.”
The family got their first Maine coon, Dutchess, in 2022. The Camerons daughter Joie had been asking her parents for a cat since she could talk.
“I love them so much,” said Joie, now 10 years old. “I just feel like they’re really pretty and I would just choose them over dogs.”
Joie had a vision for her cat: she wanted it to be the world’s fluffiest white cat. Amanda Cameron started looking and found a Maine coon from a breeder in Ukraine. While going through the process, she decided she wanted a cat for herself too, so Dutchess and Winifred flew to Minnesota.
Then came Gomez. He was re-homed from Wisconsin but originally from Russia. And finally, the baby of the family, Pugsley. If you’re sensing a theme, you would be right.
The movies “The Addams Family,” “The Aristocats” and “Hocus Pocus” inspired the names. And each member of the family has a cat that they’re a little bit closer to. For Pugsley, that is 12-year-old Finn.
He and Joie said it was hard not to tell people at school the big news when the family found out, and now, Pugsley is getting his time in the limelight the family feels like he’s always deserved.
“It’s been super exciting. They’re just nice pets to have around,” Finn said of the four Maine coons.
Pugsley is described, like the character, as mischievous, curious and very smart. He will never turn down a cuddle.
The Cameron family doesn’t plan to get more cats at the moment, as they’re at the city limit, but Pugsley’s tail is set to keep growing, at least a bit longer.
“Maine coons aren’t fully grown until they’re four or five, and they don’t grow a whole lot after they are about one and a half or two, but they fill out. I think it’ll probably grow another centimeter or two,” Amanda Cameron said.
