As mystifying a premise as it might be, "hundreds" of mourners have "flooded" the Facebook site of Stewie - the World's Longest Cat - whose nine lives were spent up as of Monday.
With survivors surrounding him, Stewie - full name Mymains Stewart Gilligan (possibly a reference to the "Family Guy" character) - succumbed after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was eight years old.
With a record-breaking (nose)tip-to-tail measurement of 48.5 inches, Stewie had during his lifetime achieved the status as "World's Longest Cat" according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
The record made the book of the standard arbiter of such world records August 2010.
"Stewie was always very social and loved meeting new people," said Robin Hendrickson, Stewie's owner. "He has touched many lives, and for that I am grateful."
In addition to Stewie's record-breaking physical singularity, he was also a certified therapy cat who brought cheer to residents of a Reno, Nev senior center. The Maine Coon cat was also employed as a promulgator of animal welfare awareness through the auspices of the Nevada Humane Society.
After taking on the role of house mother for her unique pet friend in 2005, it was early 2012 that Hendrickson was told Stewie had Lymphosarcoma, a malignant disease that affects lymphoid tissues.
Though Stewie reportedly responded successfully to chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free, it was a brief remission period and the vet soon found a more aggressive tumor on the cat's kidneys.
Although the feisty feline "did really well" at the International Cat Show in Portland, OR last month, Stewie's breeder Valerie Horton was quick to add, "Even though he wasn't feeling totally perfect."
"I knew that although we could fight it, the end was near and so I wanted to simply make him comfortable and let him enjoy the time he did have," Hendrickson said.
Maine Coons are the largest domestic breed of cats, according to Horton, who has been raising such animals for more than thirty years.
"It's the luck of the draw," Horton said. "We mostly breed for type and temperament, and then hope for the size. Stewie's father came from some very large cats."
A potential successor's record was not immediately confirmed by Guinness World Records officials.
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