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Oldest Cat
Old 07-04-2017, 07:53 PM   #1
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Oldest Cat

Just for fun, at least fun for 'cat people' anyway, what is the oldest cat whom you have actually met, be it your own feline companion or one belonging to someone else?

I know that there have been several cats over the yrs reportedly holding the age record in the low to mid thirties, and I think the current record holder is age 33. But, I have personally never met any cat anywhere near such an age.

Now, my own have been rescues, some with very severe health issues or abuse records, so the cats I have owned have ranged from age 5 (congenital liver disease) to age 16 at their deaths. I now have one 18 yr old and two 17 yr olds and two 15 yr olds, so will be breaking my own record, hopefully by a lot.

The oldest cat I have ever met was a 19 yr old male Siamese, named Fred, whom I met thirty two yrs ago. He was owned by a friend of a cousin who has since passed away. I moved shortly after and never did find out how much longer Fred lived.
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Old 07-04-2017, 07:56 PM   #2
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We lost ours at 19, 18 and 17 respectively. Current felines are 7 and 5.
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Old 07-04-2017, 08:01 PM   #3
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Daughter had "Pooty", her male black and white cat, for near 15?? years. He had nine lives and used up several before passing from internal stuff. We had his tail cut back to a stub after a losing fight, but he didn't lose many.
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Old 07-04-2017, 08:10 PM   #4
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My cousins had a cat that lived to 21 years old, back in the 1960's.

It was HUGE, too, a white, scruffy looking, mean outdoors cat, that was several inches longer than what I would have considered to be a very big cat. I always wondered if it was some kind of bobcat mix or something, but my uncle said no, it was just an unusually big ordinary cat.

Now, since the last time I saw this cat was back in 1962, and I remember all this about it, you'd think I would remember its name. But no.
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:20 PM   #5
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Honestly, I've never had one live longer than 14. And, most seem to succumb by 12 or 13. It is actually aggravating to me.

We take very good care of our cats. They are indoor cats. That get regular vet visits. If there is a problem we take them to the vet and get medication or whatever treatment is recommended.

We just spent a lot of money to get all of the teeth removed for a year old cat (it has been a fabulously successful surgery -- so worth it). We spent for chemo on an 11 year old cat that succumbed. I've had cats that developed liver failure, kidney failure, untreatable cancer. All in that 12 to 14 year old range.

I see people with cats that are much older and wonder at times, why me... Mine never live that long despite everything I do to try to keep them healthy.
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:21 PM   #6
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Our diabetic cat lived to 18 1/2.


Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
My cousins had a cat that lived to 21 years old, back in the 1960's.

It was HUGE, too, a white, scruffy looking, mean outdoors cat, that was several inches longer than what I would have considered to be a very big cat. I always wondered if it was some kind of bobcat mix or something, but my uncle said no, it was just an unusually big ordinary cat.

Now, since the last time I saw this cat was back in 1962, and I remember all this about it, you'd think I would remember its name. But no.
We know a woman who was attacked by a pet which was supposedly part bob cat or other "small" wild cat. It caused a really nasty wound that did not want to heal and the attack was unprovoked. I do not recall what happened to the animal, but it clearly did not qualify as a house pet as the owner had intended.
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:46 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsmeow View Post
Honestly, I've never had one live longer than 14. And, most seem to succumb by 12 or 13. It is actually aggravating to me.

We take very good care of our cats. They are indoor cats. That get regular vet visits. If there is a problem we take them to the vet and get medication or whatever treatment is recommended.

We just spent a lot of money to get all of the teeth removed for a year old cat (it has been a fabulously successful surgery -- so worth it). We spent for chemo on an 11 year old cat that succumbed. I've had cats that developed liver failure, kidney failure, untreatable cancer. All in that 12 to 14 year old range.

I see people with cats that are much older and wonder at times, why me... Mine never live that long despite everything I do to try to keep them healthy.
I think a lot must have to do with either bad luck or genetics. I seriously doubt that my cousins' cat was cared for as well as your cats. I don't think it got that much attention or saw the vet very often, and it was an outdoors cat.
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Old 07-04-2017, 11:51 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koolau View Post
Our diabetic cat lived to 18 1/2.




We know a woman who was attacked by a pet which was supposedly part bob cat or other "small" wild cat. It caused a really nasty wound that did not want to heal and the attack was unprovoked. I do not recall what happened to the animal, but it clearly did not qualify as a house pet as the owner had intended.
I definitely did not want to get close to my cousins' cat. It was nasty and would have bitten me if I had tried to pet it. I wanted to, but my cousins warned me and also I could not get near to it. Definitely an outdoor cat and to me, it seemed pretty wild to be called a pet. Normally I like cats, but I can't imagine why they wanted to keep it. Some days it didn't even come home to eat (probably ate a bird, I suppose).
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Old 07-05-2017, 12:07 AM   #9
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Quote:
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I think a lot must have to do with either bad luck or genetics. I seriously doubt that my cousins' cat was cared for as well as your cats. I don't think it got that much attention or saw the vet very often, and it was an outdoors cat.
I think it has just been bad luck. I'm a cat person so I've never been without a cat (except when between cats). And, I've all sorts. At one time I showed and raised cats. Then, later I had purebred cats -- different breeds, different genetics. And, I've had a number of rescue cats/kittens. No real rhyme or reason to it. So, I think mostly just bad luck. I keeping hoping I'll get a 20 year old cat someday...
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Old 07-05-2017, 02:31 AM   #10
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The only cat we had that didn't get run over or poisoned made it to 18 years old. She was a calico.

Vet put her down since quality of life was becoming very poor. In theory she may have lasted a few more months.
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Old 07-05-2017, 05:47 AM   #11
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Our last three cats made it to the 16-18 range.
When I was young, a friend's mother had one that lived to 24.
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Old 07-05-2017, 05:54 AM   #12
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Our cat (Olive), died this year. We got her in 1997 as a kitten, and she lived in Germany with us when we went there. She outlived 3 other cats! She was my buddy.
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Old 07-05-2017, 07:10 AM   #13
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My cat Taz died back in February at 17 and 1/2. My Boogie lived to 19. There were a few others also that lived in the 12 to 17 range. Currently, have a 15 year old and a 7 year old.
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Old 07-05-2017, 07:29 AM   #14
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When I was a kid we always had at least 1 cat in the house. The first one died in 1974 at 12 when I was 11. We got another cat (Cookie) a few months later and added a second one (Max) about a year after that. In 1982 my younger brother brought a cat (Rocky) home from the pet club he was in at his high school. So, we had 3 cats in the house for a few years.


Cookie ran away in 1986. Max died in 1989 at age 12 or 13. Rocky stuck around for many years until my brother and his wife took him back around 2001. Rocky died in 2002 or 2003 at age ~20.


After my dad gave Rocky back to my brother, he got another cat a year or two later. Lucky died in 2009. My brother, who has several other cats, gave one back to my dad.


I have no cats but for a few months after I moved out of my parents' house in 1985,my roommate had a cat. That cat, Noodles, was a nut. I can't say I was upset when my roommate moved in with his girlfriend and took the psycho cat with him. My co-op doesn't allow pets which is fine. My apartment is too small to add a cat anyway.
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Old 07-05-2017, 07:43 AM   #15
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Our last cat died in March, 2016. We adopted her as a kitten in Sept. 1995 so she was 20+. She was deaf the last couple of years and had slowed down a lot but was in fairly good health until her last few months when she lost interest in eating much.
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Old 07-05-2017, 07:44 AM   #16
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One of my cats died at 21--developed kidney disease and it progressed quickly. Just a month ago, I had to put down my 18 year old, but he had been ill from a variety of things, including diabetes, for some years. His twin is still going strong with no health issues--I expect she will live at least a few more years. I think the oldest cat I've heard about was 22 or 23.
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Old 07-05-2017, 07:49 AM   #17
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My buddy Boots died last June at age 18. We are taking a break for a few years to travel.
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Old 07-05-2017, 08:02 AM   #18
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One of my cats lived to 20 1/3. The others 12-15. Ironically the 20 yo had almost no vet care. Neutered and vaccinated but was impossible to examine as he became crazed with fear. He was otherwise a sweet and loving cat.
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Old 07-05-2017, 08:14 AM   #19
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One of my sister's cats lived to be 21.
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Old 07-05-2017, 08:21 AM   #20
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My neighbor's cat is 20 and in seemingly good health. We pet sit for her when they travel. She's a sweetie... maybe doesn't move too fast/play anymore, but still quite affectionate and curious.
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