Meet Samson, the Largest Cat in New York City That Weighs 30lb and Is 4 Feet Long

Illustration - Sergey Ginak/Shutterstock

From the archives: This story was last updated in September 2019.

Meet Samson, who is not your ordinary Maine coon cat. Nearly the size of a full-grown bobcat, this adorable gentle giant is more than a handful for his human owner.

Jonathan Zurbel, from New York, adopted a cat named Samson from his brother, who could no longer look after the animal because of his work schedule. However, Samson is no ordinary feline.

Samson is a majestic Maine coon that can hardly fit in a normal-sized stroller. Maine coons are the largest variety of housecat and were bred to withstand the harsh New England winter. Samson is large even by Maine coon standards.

“He’s the [largest] cat in the city, and I welcome any challengers to step up,” Samson’s owner Jonathan Zurbel, social media director and DJ, told New York Post.

The magnificent cat is perfectly healthy, weighs in at 30 pounds (14 kg), and measures nearly 4 feet long.

So, Samson is literally a “behemoth” of a housecat.

“He is not fat or overweight but a strong Husky sturdy cat,” Zurbel said in an interview with Love Meow.

Now 6 years old, this fur ball has grown to be about the size of a bobcat. His pointy ears only accentuate the bobcat resemblance.

As you could imagine, caring for this big ol’ bobcat is never an easy task. As per New York Post, Samson consumes six cans of wet food daily and several bags of dry food each week. To keep his fur neat and luxurious, the colossal kitty needs a $120 grooming session once every few months!

Nevertheless, everything is worth it, as Zurbel attests that this fur ball is just a big gentle giant. “Samson is a very sweet but a tough cat, who fits the term gentle giant very well,” he said.

In terms of personality, Samson is as bountiful as he is big.

“He is very kind and sweet and a very well behaved cat,” Zurbel told Love Meow. “He is a dream cat.”

Samson enjoys lying around the house while keeping an eye on his human, as well as snuggling, giving stomach massages, and playing fetch. Samson also wakes up his owner every morning to play for a bit before Zurbel heads off to work.

“He waits by my (bedroom) door and comes in first thing in the morning to sit on my belly,” Zurbel said. “He purrs up a storm and he loves to massage my belly.”

As a rule, Samson loves taking up half the bed.

“When nobody is looking, he'd love to sleep in my bed and cuddle with me,” Zurbel shared. “He loves to have his belly pet.”

Due to his gigantic size, this largest feline in New York City and perhaps the world “gets a lot of attention from strangers.” A proud Zurbel added: “He draws crowds of photographers.”

In fact, this big fur ball is so popular that he has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram.

Scroll down to see more photos of majestic Samson!

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