Man who owns the world's tallest domestic cat spends almost $500 per month on pet food

Physician, Dr. William Powers, is known for being the man who owns two world record domestic cats: the domestic cat with the world's longest tail and the domestic cat who is the tallest to the shoulder. The former is a silver tabby Maine Coon and the latter is an F2 Savannah cat whose name is Fenrir Antares Powers. The Maine Coon's name is Altair Cygnus Powers. He is also known for losing 2 world record-holding domestic cats in a devastating house fire.

Powers and his overweight world record holding F2 Savannah cat. Image: Photo: Guinness World Records 

When I read that he spent upwards of $500 per month on pet food it made me perk up a little bit and I ask myself why and how because it seems to me to be an enormous amount of money.

And the reason is this: firstly, he has six cats in all including the two mentioned. And perhaps more importantly, he prepares a special diet for his F2 Savannah cat who is always hungry. 

The last point is an important one because not that long ago, I wrote an article stating that in my opinion this F2 Savannah cat was overweight at that time. It appears that Dr. Powers has been giving in to his Savannah cat's demands for more food. 

And I wonder whether he is having trouble keeping his Savannah cat entertained and stimulated. Perhaps the cat is bored but I feel fairly certain that he was overweight and at 36 pounds that, too, would seem to be excessive even for such a large domestic cat.

Apparently, he's a very friendly and outgoing Savannah cat but he is very big, as expected, for a domestic cat. And no doubt he is active because Savannah cats are active or more so than typical domestic cats. They are also more intelligent and therefore need more stimulation which in turn results in more activity.

He makes a custom diet made out of raw meat, mainly chicken but sometimes other animal sources. And he adds supplements like essential amino acids, long chain fatty acids, porcine bonemeal and other additives such as nutritional yeast flavour.

So, seems that he provides a raw diet for a Savannah cat as the main diet. This doesn't surprise me at all. He probably feels that it is necessary as this cat has a lot of serval DNA in him and a well-prepared raw diet containing all the nutrients that a domestic cat requires plus excellent storage is probably going to be better than standard high quality wet cat food. 

But that is a matter of debate and most veterinarians recommend that cat owners do not prepare a raw diet for their cat.

Of course, this doctor is going to be more critical about food preparation and so on which is why he is probably well-qualified to do what he does.

We don't know what the other cats get but I suspect that it is more of a standard commercially prepared cat food diet.

Will Powers is a celebrity seeker living vicariously through his Guinness World Record Savannah cat

OPINION ON THE NEWS: Dr. William John Powers of Farmington Hills, USA is all over the news and has been for about a month. There are endless numbers of pictures of him with his Guinness World Records titleholder as the world's tallest living domestic cat.

Fenrir and Powers. The Guinness World Records tallest domestic cand his owner. Image: Guinness World Records.

The accolade goes to Fenrir, a second filial Savannah cat measuring 18.83 inches to the shoulder on January 29, 2021.

I have a strong sense that this man, a Michigan physician and HIV specialist, is desperate for celebrity and he gets it vicariously through his cats.

I say 'cats' because four of Powers' cats have officially won the following Guinness World Records:

1. Altair Cygnus Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. His tail measures 16.07 inches.
2. Arcturus Aldebaran Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the tallest cat ever, and previously held the title for the tallest living domestic cat. He died in a fire in 2017.
3. Cygnus Regulus Powers – A silver Maine Coon who held the record for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. Cygnus also died in the 2017 fire. 

He always names his cats after him. More publicity seeking in my opinion.

Mr Powers story is rather remarkable because two of his previous record holders as you can note above died in a fire.

But what is apparent is that he is constantly chasing records. I think he does this because he knows he will achieve celebrity. And I don't like it. There is something wrong with the man.

There is an absurd obsession by humankind in chasing cat records. What is the point of this record? It is the tallest domestic cat from the ground to the shoulder. Does that really mean anything?

It just means that the cat has long legs! Unsurprising as the wild cat ancestor of the Savannah cat is the serval which has the longest legs to body size of all cats. 

It doesn't mean that Fenrir is the biggest domestic cat. There are some extraordinary Maine Coon cats which are bigger than this Savannah cat.

This particular Guinness World Record is, as I have suggested almost meaningless, but Mr Powers has latched onto it, perhaps realising that it is a rather artificial award but nonetheless gone for it and achieved the result he wanted.

In an earlier post I suggested, tentatively, that Fenrir was a little bit overweight. He seems to have fixed that problem but in a recent interview he states that Fenrir is "ravenously" hungry. This has put pressure on Mr Powers to limit his cat's diet because he was getting too big.

It seems, therefore, that I was correct in my assessment. However, in more recent photographs it appears that he has lost some weight.

It is nearly always Savannah cats which achieve this particular award. The most famous Savannah cat to achieve it was Magic. I made a video about this cat. Actually, I made more than one video. She was a female. I don't know whether she still alive.

She was an F1 Savannah cat. Fenrir is an F2 Savannah cat which means second generation from the wild. Normally F1s are larger than F2s but clearly that is not always the case.

As I recall, Guinness World Records did away with the world's fattest cat because it encouraged people to overfeed their cats and make them unhealthily fat.

I personally don't think Guinness should be involved with world records for domestic cats. I'm being a grumpy old man, but it tends to encourage human behaviour which is not really desirable.

The $80,000 Rescue Cat!

Motzie is a very special cat. He may be the world's most special cat. This is because he is both the world's third largest domestic cat and a service cat. Oh...and he has a great character (essential for a service cat) and looks very impressive indeed. His high value is because he is so rare and special.

Motzie
Photo copyright Helmi Flick

Motzie's full name is: A1Savannahs Matanah Me Al aka Motzie - flashy...

He has a right to have a flashy name because he is so impressive. Motizie is an F2 Savannah cat (second generation). The two cats that are second and first largest domestic cats are also Savannah cats but both are first filial (F1s). They are Magic and Trouble.

Motzie helps in children reading problems. Motzie has also helped veterans as a therapy animal. He probably does lots more. Jaguar cars have been involved with him as well (Jaguar Club Accepts "Motzie" as Jaguar Symbol). And he helps his human companion and caretaker who is Deborah-Ann Milette who is a vet as I recall. I think they still live in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is where Motzie was born at the renown Savannah cat breeders, A1 Savannahs.

Motzie on a Jaguar!

Savannah Cat Breeder

You are searching for a Savannah cat breeder? Search no more. There in one that is head and shoulders above all others and that includes all cat breeders. I am not getting a commission for saying this, by the way.

You should contact this cat breeder and go from that starting point. I will guarantee that it is the best way of proceeding if you are looking to buy a Savannah cat from a breeder in the United States. And the USA is the home of the SAVANNAH CAT.

I am talking about A1 Savannahs. They are the premier Savannah cat breeder, worldwide. They do business with royalty in far flung places (e.g. Morocco) and they deal with "ordinary" people in the US, UK and Europe etc.

The following F2 Savannah cat was sold to the King of Morocco:

F2 Savannah cat - Photo copyright Kathrin Stucki

I have visited A1 Savannahs on a couple of occasions.  They have a guest house for visitors who want to stick around for a while and see the cats before buying and going home. Or for people like me who just want to visit and enjoy the A1 Savannah Cats farm, which is a model of harmony in a disharmonious world:

Harmony at A1 Savannahs Farm - Photo: Michael @ PoC.

At this stupendous Savannah cat breeder there are Savannah kittens underfoot being socialised. They have fun and they can be noisy:





There is good food for visitors and plenty of fun playing with the cats! Oh, and there is some really nice wine too...uhmm I like that..

You might bump into an F1 Savannah cat like "Focus" and play with him or even, at one time, a cat like the famous "Magic" or if you like to see a bit of wildlife you can see the servals. Morpheus is large and his partner Penelope is a lady but they are wild cats remember..

F1 Savannah cat "Focus" - Photo by Michael@PoC

I could go on and on but I'll just say that if you are anywhere in the world and are looking for a Savannah cat breeder contact A1 Savannahs who are situated near Ponca City, Oklahoma, United States.


View Larger Map

Their website has all you need for further details: A1 Savannahs.

The map below shows a large number of Savannah cat breeders, but the best is you know who..


Map Channels: free mapping tools

Finally here is Kathrin Stucki who owns and runs A1 Savannahs with her husband Martin:



Remember that Savannah cats are wildcat hybrids that are truly domestic cats. They do have that look of the wild, are probably sharper and quicker than the average domestic cat but they are domesticated. Make sure you know the rules regarding ownership in your country or particularly state in America. Some states have banned the higher fillial Savannah cats and in the UK you might need a license. Just check out the legalities. That is the first thing to do.



From Savannah Cat Breeder to Home Page

Daria F2 Savannah Kitten

This is a wonderful F2 Savannah kitten from A1 Savannahs that will grow into being a fine looking and behaving adult cat of real presence. The photo was taken by me yesterday under what I would consider to be difficult conditions as it was very dark at the time. The only light was from a tungsten light source.



In order to get workable sharp picture I had to use flash light and the only flash light that I had was on the camera.

It was fortunate that Daria went into this tunnel cat play area. Using a shutter speed that allowed some of the background to also show despite not being illuminated by the flash I was also lucky enough to get a nice wildcat type expression.

I had all but given up getting a decent photograph and at the last gasp got one that works OK.

Daria already has a new owner and was about to be picked up or shipped out. The photo was taken at A1 Savannahs and Daria was born on their farm and raised by Kathrin and Martin Stucki.
 


From to Home Page

F2 Savannah Cat

F2 Savannah cat Motzie. Image: public domain.

There are links below to plenty of F2s! Whatever the generation, what a cat; the look on this cat's face is so alert and intelligent.

The F2 Savannah Cat is one of the largest domestic cats if you place no restrictions on your assessment of size in terms of cat associations recognition (except for the Serval which when domesticated or tamed is the largest or of course the F1 Savannah cat - see e.g. Magic). The F2 Savannah is probably the most "impressive" looking domestic cat of them all. This is a complete giant of a domestic cat and I don't use the word in the sense of large as this cat is not that large. No, I mean in the sense of the wow factor.

There is quite a lot of talk on the internet about the Ashera GD, Life Style Pets Inc. hypoallergenic cat that looks like an early generation Savannah. People say she is! There is talk of the best Savannah catteries supplying Life Style Pets Inc. (Allerca cats) with their cats. One importation into the Netherlands of an Ashera was stopped and made the news. The airport authorities thought it might a wild cat (it is partly!). Update: the Ashera GD is a F1 Savannah cat and Savannah cats are hypoallergenic but no science is available on this.

As you probably know the Savannah is a wild cat hybrid, crossing a Serval with a domestic cat. The F2 Savannah is second generation. They are high input cats (meaning you'll have to give a higher than normal level of attention), alpha type cats. I'd read the page on this website about the Savannah if you are thinking of adopting. It may pay to read about her character which is similar to the Bengal cat character another wildcat hybrid.

Wild cat hybrids at F2 level bond well with their human keeper but demand attention apparently (read about Helmi Flick's thoughts on the Chausie another wildcat hybrid). There are legal requirements too (I've mentioned this on the Savannah page). Laws change and there is currently I think a bit of a shift in opinion by the legislators against the wildcat hybrids in the USA. In the UK they are still wildcats technically. The first thing I'd do is check the legal position before you do anything else.

F2 Savannah Cat to Abyssinian Cat