Colonel Meow holds Guinness Record for longest cat hair at 9 inches

HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Colonel Meow, a Persian cat in Hollywood, has been recognized as having the longest cat hair in the world at 9 inches, Guinness World Records said Wednesday.

Meow's owners, Anne Marie Avey and Eric Rosario, found him through the Seattle Persian and Himalayan Rescue and adopted him at a Petco event, they told the Los Angeles Times.

"He was actually left on the side of the road and then taken to a kill shelter," Avey said. "It was an impulse purchase."

The Persian is the most popular cat among members of the Cat Fanciers' Association, partly for having the longest coat of all cat breeds, the newspaper said.

Guinness expects the competition to mount with the new announcement and has introduced "Longest fur on a cat" as a new category for 2014.