May 7 (UPI) -- A high-flying Texas cat earned a Guinness World Record by leaping a distance of 8 feet and 5 inches.
Oscar, a 7-year-old cat belonging to Dallas man Theodore Shiells, officially took the Guinness World Records title for the longest jump by a cat.
Shiells said Oscar started out with tricks like sitting, begging and fetching, and about two years ago the feline started to show an interest in jumping tricks.
"Beginning with a jump of just a few inches, he soon progressed to a few feet, and then through a hoop. This was very cute, of course, but there was not the slightest thought at this of a world record," Shiells told Guinness World Records.
Shiells said it took two years of training and more than 1,000 practice jumps for Oscar to break the record.
"It was not until Oscar's jumps reached about five feet that it even occurred to us to look up whether there was a world record. When we found out it was 2.3 meters [about 7.5 feet], we first thought beating it would be impossible," the cat's owner said. "But since Oscar liked 'air time,' we decided: 'Let's go for it!'"
Shiells said Oscar isn't the only talented cat in the family -- his adopted sister, August Ray, is at home on the water and often competes against dogs in surfing competitions.
