Guinness World Records has officially crowned Cye, a three-year-old male munchkin cat, the shortest cat in the world.
Hailing from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, little Cye stands at a petite 13.6 cm (or 5.35 inches) from floor to shoulders. The record was previously held by the 15.8 cm munchkin cat, Fizz Girl.
25-year-old Sarah Langille, Cye’s owner, has been a hobby breeder of the tiny cats for five years.
The naturally occurring genetic mutations of munchkin cats cause very short legs in the felines.
Langille was inspired to look into the record when a friend told her that Cye was the shortest cat he’d ever seen. From there, she contacted the people at Guinness World Records, who told her to provide a video of the cat, and a certification of Cye’s height taken three times by a veterinarian using a specially ordered instrument.
The cat’s short legs, and a damaged eye he suffered as a newborn kitten, have not seemed to slow Cye down.
He’s reportedly quite active and can leap up to 8 feet. Still, his owner has decided not to let the record holder outside because his short legs leave him vulnerable to attack.