Facts about old cats

In countries where health care for animals is well organized, the average life length of the house cat (under the condition that he is well cared for and without accidents) is 14 years old. There are however signs that this age is increasing. More and more cats get twenty years old or even older. The life expectation depends on different factors: good genes, good health care, good diet and a relative safe surrounding. Wild cats are often victim of accidents, diseases, undernourishment and beasts of prey. They reach an average age of 6-8 years old. Cats grow up fast, but as they grow older they become old slower than human beings. Some cat owners claim that inside cats live longer than outside cats. This isn’t always true since inside cats, although protected from car-accidents and other animals can live shorter due to corpulency (they sometimes suffer from diabetes and heart diseases), lack of physical movement and stress. In general cats get slower as they grow older, but this doesn’t mean that all cats loose their figure. Some cats remain active hunters until they are 20 years old or even older. On 21st December 1975 a 19 year old Tabby of Mrs. F. Arnot from St Neots, Huntingdonshire, England killed a little mink during an intense fight. Queenie, a one-eyed Tabby from Chelmsford, England, still hunted (unsuccessfully) on pigeons at the age of 19 years old.  Under the right circumstances some cats have reached the respectable age of twenty-plus because they had been fed and cared for well by people. There have been stray cats which reached high ages, in England there was a stray cat which became 28 years old.

Oldest cats, in the past.
In 1940 Ida M. Mellon investigated the maximum age of cats. She sent questionnaires to cat owners in the US and in Canada. She registered 17 cases of cats with an age between 21-31 years old, although most ages were estimated ages. One cat of 33 years old was reported. Nine castrated tomcats were 21-31 years old. Three not castrated tomcats were 23-26 years old. One sterilized female cat was 31 years old and her age was fully documented. In 1956 Dr. Alex Comfort executed a more scientific study. He localized 10 cats which were demonstrably older than 19 years old. The oldest cat he reported was 27 years old, a not castrated cat which had been purchased as a kitten in 1927 and was still alive in 1954. Nowadays immense high ages are regularly publicized in cat magazines. An increasing life length and a better care have resulted in a large number of books and articles concerning the care of older cats.

Guinness World Record
In order to get an official Guinness World Record the cat’s age must be verifiable. Since most house cats don’t have an official birth certificate, the purebred cats have an advantage in this case since their birth is set down in a birth certificate. If a cat has been going to the same veterinarian during his whole life, veterinarian data may also be used for this. The real age of a cat is sometimes hard to see, because cats, in contrast with dogs, often keep their teeth until a very high age and their fur doesn’t get grey as they grow older. The human memory isn’t infallible and owners might confuse their present cat with former cats which looked the same or had the same name. So "Poekie" fell off the TV during the Christmas Diner of 1977 might just al well be Poekie’s predecessor. Besides, proud cat owners don’t find it difficult to add a couple of years to the actual age of their cat!

The oldest cats ever.
A non-verifiable claim consists of a 43 year old cat. On 2nd January 1972 a man from Dumfriesshire, Scotland claimed that this cat (name not known) had celebrated his 43rd birthday. Mr. W Ferguson, of the Scottish Cat Club, wrote the owner a letter in order to receive more information but he received the following answer: “In response to your letter concerning the cat, I must unfortunately inform you that he died this morning due to a train accident. My brother bought him on the Millingonbush farm, where he worked during the summer of 1939. I lived my whole life together with this cat. My brother, who once purchased this cat, died one month ago on the same spot where my cat died. I am the only person left, but what I say is true, I assure you. I am 64 years old and I bought a house here, I have always lived here”. In November 1972, the American Feline Society was informed about a 37 year old cat which would live in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. When the AFS investigated this case, it turned out that the claim had been based on a combination of the life length of 3 different cats. The oldest acknowledged cats ever in general are: Puss (36 years and one day old), Ma (34 years old) and Grandpa (34 years and two months old). Puss was born in 1903 and lived with Mrs. T. Holway from Clayhidon, Devon, England. Puss died on 29th November 1939, just one day after his 36th birthday. The course of life of Puss hasn’t been documented well and there are doubts concerning the truth of this story. The longest verifiable life length of a cat was of a female Tabby named Ma, she lived with Alice St George Moore from Drewsteignton, England. The veterinarian put Ma to sleep on 5th November 1957, she was 34 years old at that time. Although Ma became two years younger than Puss, her age has a more reliable documentation. As a kitten her paw got stuck in a fox trap and it was uncertain whether she would survive this or not. Despite of the fact that she survived this, the injury got worse as she grew older; a lot of extra care was necessary. This would be the secret of her long life length. Ma’s natural diet consisting of meat from the local butcher and a relaxed life style (her owners were classical musicians) are considered to be factors which contributed to that. The Sphynx Granpa Rexs Allen became 34 years, 2 months and 4 hours old in 1998 (purebred cats have the advantage that they have detailed birth certificates). He was adopted from the Humane Society in Travis County, Texas, by Jake Perry on16th January 1970. Grandpa was found as a stray cat. Mr. Perry realized that Grandpa was a Sphynx (very rare at that time), so he placed pamphlets in case someone would have further information concerning the cat. He got a phone call from the owner, Madame Madame Sulinaberg from Paris, France. She had visited her daughter in December 1969 and her cat, Pierre, had escaped through an open door. Madame Sulinaberg assured herself that it was really her cat and had Mr. Perry keep him. She gave him Pierre’s family tree which mentioned that he was born in Paris, France, on 1st February 1964. His father, Pierre the 2nd, was a Devon Rex (an allowed crossing with the Sphynx breed) and his mother was a Sphynx named Queen of France. Grandpa was a well cared cat., just like Ma, but his diet consisted of bacon, eggs, broccoli, asparagus, mayonnaise and coffee with lots of cream!  Different other cats became more than 30 years old. In Los Angeles, California a cat died in September 1955 on the respectable age of 33 years and 4 months old. The name is unknown but the cat was born in 1922 in Surbiton, Surrey, England and had been moved with his owners to the US. Mrs. B. Fenlon from Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland, had a sterilized tomcat named Bobby. He died on 5th July 1973 on the age of 32 years and 3 weeks old. Selina, the short-haired Silver Tabby of Mrs. Margaret Chapman from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England, died on 28th August 1983 at the age of 32 years old. Fluff, a black-white crossing home cat/long-haired Persian was purchased as a kitten by Marjorie and Ken Wren from Gosport, Hampshire, England. In 2003, at the age of 31 years old, she was the survivor cat. Fluff’s long life length was probably caused by her relaxed life style. A long life length is partly influenced by the genes, which explains that the “cat twins” Ginger and Sandy, both became about 20 years old. They were born on 18th May 1956 and their owner was Mrs. Patt Hillman from Birmingham. Sandy became 20 years, 5 months and 3 weeks old. She died on 7th January 1977. Ginger died on 8th September 1978 at the age of 21 years, 3 months and 3 weeks old. In general home cats live longer than purebred cats. This is caused by the fact that purebred cats are bred on a large-scale. Fluff, the blue Persian of Mrs. Mary Forster from Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, died on 15th October 1982. Fluff reached the respectable age of 29 years and 7 months old. An unnamed, Blue-Point Siamese of Mr. Howard Little from Redwood City, California, USA reached the documented age of 25 years and 8 months old in November 1975. The 27 year old Burmese named Kataleena Lady, of Mrs. V. Hayward from Melbourne, Australia was still alive in 2004. 

The oldest, still living cats.
It goes without saying that this concerns a category with titleholders that often changes since all cats will die in the end. Except for the official titleholder, there are numerous unverifiable record-holders. Some of these cats died before their claim could be verified, others are limited due to a lack of a proper birth certificate. This means that in this category the purebred cats have the advantage compared to the home cats. Some unverifiable claims have become famous thanks to articles in magazines or news reports. In March 2004 the 27 year old Burmese named Kataleena Lady, of Mrs. V. Hayward from Melbourne, Australia was reported as oldest still living cat. Kataleena Lady was born on 11th March 1977. In March 2005 there was a cat named Amber, from Wales, of which the owner claimed that she was the longest still living home cat. When she was 3 years old, fully-grown, she was adopted by Diane Sleeman from Ferryside in 1978. Diana claimed that Amber should be about 30 years old which would make her almost 5 years older than the verified titleholder. But Guinness World Records demands proof of Amber’s long life length. Amber didn’t have teeth but was still fit and healthy, although she was less active than she used to be. Amber’s diet consisted of hot codfish, chicken and shrimps next to the ordinary cat food. In March 2005 the 23 year old Spook from Ontario, Canada was the oldest (verifiable) still living cat.

Oldest cats with kittens
In contrast with human beings cats don’t have a menopause, they remain fertile their whole life (unless they get castrated of course). As they grow older they however get fewer kittens per nest (1-2 instead of 3+). Although they keep on mating the chance on an actual fertilization reduces as they grow older. This also goes for old tomcats: They are still able to fertilize a female cat, but the chance reduces since they become less fertile as they grow older. The 30 year old Kitty, of George Johnstone from Croxton, Stafforshire, England produced in 1987 a nest with 2 kittens. Kitty died 2 years later on the age of 32. A 28 year old Tortie named Smutty of Mrs. Eileen Martin from Chacewater, Cornwall, England got a kitten on 6th July 1953 when she was 28 years old. Smutty was a retired rat catcher. She probably didn’t have any time to bring up kittens during her working life (which means that any possible previous nests died prematurely or were destroyed)