Family's pet cat is so huge people often mistake him for a lion

James Hockaday
Tammy Brewin, 14, from Worcester with her giant Maine Coon cat Murphy, aged 1. December 1, 2022. See SWNS story SWNJcat. A cat so big that people mistake him for a lion is only a few inches away from breaking the world record for the longest domestic cat – and he’s still growing. Murphy the Maine Coon weighs in at an impressive 22lbs and is a huge 41 inches long, just seven inches short of the 48-inch world record. His owner Sareeta Brewin, 46, thinks her one-year-old cat can get even bigger as Maine Coon’s don’t stop fully growing until they reach three-years-old. The huge feline chomps his way through a £20 3kg biscuit bag every month and looks set to grow even bigger. Animal lover Sareeta claims Murphy is so big people often mistake him for a dog and even a lion and jokingly tag her in posts of UK panther sightings claiming it’s actually him. Sareeta has another smaller cat and two Korean rescue dogs but Murphy is somehow bigger than them all.
Tammy Brewin, 14, with Murphy the Maine Coon cat, who still has some growing to do. (SWNS) (Emma Trimble / SWNS)

Murphy the cat is already the “size of your average dog”, weighing 11kg and measuring 104cm from nose to tail.

He’s just a whisker away from beating the record for world’s largest cat, and at just one year old, he still has some growing to do.

Murphy is a Main Coon cat, one of the oldest natural breeds from North America, known for their thick and long coats.

His owner, Sareeta Brewin, 46, says people often mistake him for a dog, and even a lion, and often tag her in posts of big cat sightings across Worcestershire.

She spends a fortune feeding him, as he gets through £60 worth of dry food every month, and has also had to buy him an extra-large litter tray to accommodate his massive bulk.

Sareeta, from Worcester, says she got Murphy in November when he was about 13 or 14 weeks old, at which point he was the same size as her regular cat.

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Tammy Brewin, 14, from Worcester with her giant Maine Coon cat Murphy, aged 1. December 1, 2022. See SWNS story SWNJcat. A cat so big that people mistake him for a lion is only a few inches away from breaking the world record for the longest domestic cat – and he’s still growing. Murphy the Maine Coon weighs in at an impressive 22lbs and is a huge 41 inches long, just seven inches short of the 48-inch world record. His owner Sareeta Brewin, 46, thinks her one-year-old cat can get even bigger as Maine Coon’s don’t stop fully growing until they reach three-years-old. The huge feline chomps his way through a £20 3kg biscuit bag every month and looks set to grow even bigger. Animal lover Sareeta claims Murphy is so big people often mistake him for a dog and even a lion and jokingly tag her in posts of UK panther sightings claiming it’s actually him. Sareeta has another smaller cat and two Korean rescue dogs but Murphy is somehow bigger than them all.
Murphy weighs 11kg and measures at 104cm from nose to tail. (SWNS) (Emma Trimble / SWNS)

“It's like we’ve got a cat and a mouse with the size of him. She looks so small compared to him,” she added. Sareeta also has two Korean rescue dogs, and Muphy is even bigger than them.

“Maine Coons grow until they’re about three-years-old so who knows how big Murphy is going to get, he's already the size of your average dog," she said.

“I don’t know what I expected with him, I knew he’d be big, but I didn’t expect him to be that big.

“People do sometimes mistake him for a dog, they also make remarks about the wild cat on the loose. Others say ‘bloody hell, is that a lion?’ He is very feline looking.”

Last Christmas, Murphy chewed his way through dozens of festive lights and the family’s iPhone cables which cost a total of £300 to replace.

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Sareeta, a product manager in medical devices, said: “We call him Thor because he’s very handsome but he is quite dim.

“He does eat a fair bit. He goes through a £20 3kg biscuit bag a month. I'm glad he prefers the dry biscuits as it would be so expensive for the meat.

“If it was wet food it would be a fortune. We haven’t put up our Christmas decorations up this year yet.

“He chewed his way through 12 sets of lights last year, we had to buy reinforced cables around the house as he chews them. We spent an absolute fortune on them.

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Tammy Brewin, 14, from Worcester with her giant Maine Coon cat Murphy, aged 1. December 1, 2022. See SWNS story SWNJcat. A cat so big that people mistake him for a lion is only a few inches away from breaking the world record for the longest domestic cat – and he’s still growing. Murphy the Maine Coon weighs in at an impressive 22lbs and is a huge 41 inches long, just seven inches short of the 48-inch world record. His owner Sareeta Brewin, 46, thinks her one-year-old cat can get even bigger as Maine Coon’s don’t stop fully growing until they reach three-years-old. The huge feline chomps his way through a £20 3kg biscuit bag every month and looks set to grow even bigger. Animal lover Sareeta claims Murphy is so big people often mistake him for a dog and even a lion and jokingly tag her in posts of UK panther sightings claiming it’s actually him. Sareeta has another smaller cat and two Korean rescue dogs but Murphy is somehow bigger than them all.
Murphy munches his way through a 3kg biscuit bag every month and needs and extra-large litter tray. (SWNS) (Emma Trimble / SWNS)

“I’ve even had to buy a dog carrier for him when I take him to the vets because he won’t fit in a cat carrier. He's like a cat and a dog. They've very much like dogs, he greets you and brings you his toys to play with.”

Comparing him to a Husky, a breed known for being very vocal, Sareete said he “talks and communicates”.

The mum-of-three added: “He is still essentially a kitten, he bombs around the house and has that mad half hour.

“The dogs are a bit freaked out by him, they don’t mind him. The little cat doesn’t mind him, they do play.”

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Sareeta said she’ll be keeping an extra close eye on his length in the coming years to see if he can break the record.

She added: “I’m sure we could get a few extra inches out of him but I’ll be keeping a close eye on him just in case. He gets bored of being held up.”

Murphy still has some catching up to do to beat world record breaking cat Stewie from Nevada, USA, who measures at 123cm long.

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