I think the longest-lived (proven) cat on record lived somewhere around 34 years, so 30 years is possible, though highly unusual.

Cats living 20-25 years aren't all that rare.

You-didn't-ask-but-I'm-telling-you-anyway: Typical life expectancy for a well-cared-for pet cat is about 15-16 years. Life expectancy of a feral ("alley") cat is far less than that.

My cat will be 12 in April.

The article actually says Ms. Sleeman has had Amber since 1978 (before that Amber was a stray of unknown age), so I'd say Amber's proven age is not more than 27. Still very, very old for a cat, but not as impressive as 30.

My cat died last year at 18 1/2, and the one I have now is 14. I know their ages because I know their birthdays and got them as kittens. My cat's vet said that the avg life span of cats is 7-9 yrs (for indoor/outdoor cats, indoor only cats live longer. Mine is an indoor/outdoor cat.)
I asked him why my cat lived so long with such few health issues (he only ever had abscesses every once in a while and one time caught an airborne virus), and he said that if he knew the answer to that, he'd be a rich man. Then he asked me if I loved my cat. Of course the answer was yes, I'd had him since I was 15!

Completely off the subject, but anyone heard of Clifford the big red dog? Emily Elizabeth is his owner, and it was her love that made him grow so big. Just a side note. Nothing to do with anything...

I forgot to mention that my old boss's cat was 27 years old in 1998. I don't know if the cat is still alive or not.

Here's a link to a story from 97 about a cat who turned 32:

http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/06/fringe/oldest.cat/

Says that this cat was two years away from being the oldest cat in history, so you're looking at 34 years old.

I work in a vet clinic and so far our oldest cat was around 27. Come to think of it, the oldest dog was 23. Pretty remarkable, albeit not so common...but it can & does happen.

The oldest cat I've ever met was 22 when he died. The oldest dog I can think of off the top of my head is now 19, though I'm sure there are older ones (the one I'm thinking of is a husky, which is uncommon). Both owners had the animals as babies, so I'm pretty sure the ages are accurate. We have plenty of 17 and 18 year old cats where I work, average lifespan seems to be 14-16.

I can only estimate an animal's age very broadly by looking at the teeth, once they are adults. I would think (though I could easily be mistaken) that the only way to confirm the cat's age would be veterinary or other legal records. Just looking at the picture, I'd have guessed she was at least in the 17-18 range. I

My brother had a cat named Hobbes that recently died. Hobbes was 26 (by vet records)when he died. He was a stray when my brother got him, so who really knows how old that cat was.

...a house cat does not have natural enemies, has a constant food supply, is less likely to have litters (spaying/nuetering of house pets is much more common, & living in the house, you are less likely to have contact w/ a male cat), and (presumably) has healthcare.

If people were taken care of like this...we might have the chance to live to 140. (Please don't think I'm advocating human nuetering!! I'm mostly talking about the care that house cats receive w/o having to have a 60 hr/wk job to make it all happen.)

Interesting, one of the google add for this is "Discount Bonsai Kitten." I love that text-sensitive advertising. Sadly, the link just takes me to a zero-result ebay page.

My cat's breath smells like catfood.

brian: Your breath smells like human food.

I always wonder about people these days with old pets that can't substantiate that they're old. One would assure taking your cat to the vet for shots wasn't THAT uncommon in the late 1970's. As time passes, it'll get more and more unlikely that a person can claim to have no record of the early life of their 'amazingly old' cats and dogs.

Re. pets of unknown age:
Frequently, it's because the human doesn't know the pet's age when it was adopted. For example, my neighbor adopted a cat seven and a half years ago. The cat was already an adult when she showed up in my neighbor's yard. So we know that Daisy is at least seven and a half years old, but we don't know how much older.
Veterinary records could help, but after 25 or 30 years there's a good chance the orginal vet clinic is out of business. Some pet owners keep records on all their pets meticulously, but I'd guess there are more who do not.

The vet hospital I work for has been in business about 15 years, and we have at least one living patient who has been coming there for 12 years. It's not impossible but unlikely that the original vet might have old records, if the owners stayed with the same vet the pet's entire life. However, I think we're only required to keep records on inactive (deceased or moved) patients for about three years (I don't own the business, so I'm not sure on the exacts). Some pet owners keep their pets' entire medical record on hand, though...

Also, is that gray female cat you had vaccinated in the 1980's the same gray female cat you have now, or are you pulling a hoax? As more pets are microchipped or otherwise permanently identified and registered, it will be easier to confirm ages.

Maegan: I sure as hell would be an advocate of human neutering. God knows there are a lot of people that should never reproduce.

Brian: Ralph is the coolest!

Sarah...I don't disagree with you. =o)

ive got a 40 year old hamster. any one wanna buy her? maybe ill sell her on ebay waahahahahaha

Not so surprising - we got a Siamese Female (Sealpoint roundhead) when I was 3 in 1950. She lived to be 26. The only reason we lost her then was having to put her down because of an incurable jaw infection.
Last year, I buried a Marmalade Tom who reached 21 before he had a severe stroke - I don't have enough income where I could've gotten him the surgery required.
With modern medical/diet care, there's no reason a cat shouldn't reach 30+.

There's a fairly good summary of oldest cats (oldest ever and oldest still living) at http://www.messybeast.com/longevity.htm There was a claim of a cat more than 40 years old, but it inconveniently died just before a researcher went to check it out!

thephrog, are you sure your vet wasn't talking about strays? I've got several indoor/outdoor cats, one is already 10, and they're all expected to live at least until 14-16. The oldest cat I knew was about 22 when he died.

"Maegan: I sure as hell would be an advocate of human neutering." - Sarah

"Sarah...I don't disagree with you. =o)" - Maegan


Isn't fascism great?

i have a cat that is about 20 years old, she has her front claws removed and car still climb tree like it was nothing. She acts really yong 😊

I have a Abbysianian kitty names birdie.She is 29 years old this Sept. and does not show it at all!!We went for vaccines today and her vet comminted that she nEvER shows any change year after year. i feel someone should know, are you interested??Marian

I like cats. They are really tasty. I was raised on cat meat, and i must say that the british shorthairs flavour is particularly divine.

You insensitive bastard! Can you not see that this is not a recipe board?

Go away and learn some manners you heartless prick!

I believe this could be true, my cat that died a couple years ago lived to 21 in human years

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)my nan has had her cat for 22 years now and it was a stray before she got her as she found her in the street, although she has not got many teeth and is going death she is still very lively and attacts the dog from time to time haha
😊:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):

Hello all, my cat died yesterday. She was 16 years old... I still think I should not let her have a surgery to remove her ovaris. Next day she got an infection that became sepsis. She could not struggle any longer and I had to put her to sleep so she is finally with God now.:(

We took in a cat thru his final days. We were told that not only is this cat 23 yrs old...he used to used belong to none other than Jim 'The Muppets' Henson.
I think we are the cats 4th or 5th owner...but he's become 'our boy' now.

My husband got his cat, Max, when he was two days old.. that was 28-1/2 years ago. April 1977. We have the record of his first vet visit the day after.
We have two other cats, Katt is 9 years old and quite intelligent. Spott is 4, and quite dumb.

Maxx is still the mouser. Katt doesn't like to kill and Spott doesn't know what to do with a mouse. They bring them in and Maxx takes care of them after the other two are done.

He had another cat that he adopted as a stray about a year later.. no idea how old she was, but we do know she was at least a year old, but she died in 2002 at least 26.

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