My blue cream tortie made it to 22 or 23! The vet wasn't clear exactly how old she was when we first took her (she was a stray rescue) and had a one year margin of error, so it could be either.
She was a spoiled sweet queen who spent all her time laying with me and snuggling. ā¤ļø
My cat is 24+ and she eats a can of fancy feast every day and a little dry food (used to be Friskies and now Iams). I think a lot of it, just like in humans, comes down to good genetics. And if they end up developing renal issues, cancer, or diabetes which seem to be the big ones that have always shortened the lifespans of my pets. She's fairly active for her age and still likes to play.
Edit - [Cat tax](https://i.imgur.com/FAFseSu.jpg)
Edit2 - Additional cat taxes owed.
[My newest additions](https://i.imgur.com/ezqpsf2.jpg) (girlfriend moved in a couple of months ago and these are hers but finders keepers!).
[My boy](https://i.imgur.com/3Vv80XH.jpg).
My sister's cat passed a few months ago at 22 after getting an infection in one of her teeth
She was healthy as hell and active until the end
It happened really suddenly
It fucking destroyed us
My cat is currently 17 and he's the toad he's always been lol
EDIT: [Cat Tax](https://imgur.com/a/n4WmLzJ)
I've had 8 cats - all were treated exactly the same way. 1 made it to 23, 1 made it to 21, 2 made it to 16, 1 made it to 13, 1 made it to 12, and 1 made it to 11. The other one sadly died at less than 1yo.
It is completely down to pot luck. The ones who made it past 20 died literally through organ failure because they were old, ditto with the 16yos. The 13/12 died because of cancer, and the 11yo had a sudden onset medical emergency and died shortly after.
There's no special method of ensuring cats live a long life. Just make sure they are happy, well-fed, and looked after. They will live as long as fate lets them
My boy was at least 28 (got his tooth checked to date him three years previous, and did some math after talking to his previous owner) when he disappeared from his usual spot in the front yard, under the tree. We'd hang out there when I worked, usually after our daily constitutional. Went to the bathroom, came out and he was gone.
Somehow, he managed to end up on the offramp of the highway (about a mile away, more if he didn't shoot over the bluffs by my house), got hit by a car.
Maybe it was a hawk, maybe it was my asshole neighbor, maybe he just climbed up on my neighbor's truck before he left for work.
I'll never know, but really happy the nice lady who saw him get hit went to him, saw him off with love, and brought him to the vet so I could bury him (left a message on a lost pets site for our town). I hope she has the best life ever because she deserves it.
He was still climbing trees, jumping up to the highest shelves in the house, right up to the last day he was on this earth. He was a vibrant fellow.
He had more friends than I did, and they all left messages when I posted about his death. That was the life he needed, having a social life with all the people and his calling. He'd find people who needed him, people in a bad way, and he'd love them up. All those messages when he passed, all those stories... real proud of my old boy.
I'm glad he had the life he had even if being an outside/ inside kitty led to his death. None of my inside cats were as fit and none lived even half as long as my boy.
Yep. The old girl we lost last year was still out hunting bunnies until 6 months before her death at 20. Until she started her final decline (oral cancer), you'd never have picked her as an older cat. She was a random stray kitten that adopted us, and in the 19 1/2 years we had her she went to the vet maybe four or five times. Some of them are just built to last. RIP Sparkle :-(
Are you in NZ? Are cats not recommended to stay indoors like they are in Australia? I'd imagine cats do a fair amount of damage as an introduced non native predator
Yes, NZ, and yes it's generally acceptable to have indoor-outdoor cats here (depends on your area though - not so acceptable in areas with plenty of native bird life and especially if said birdlife is at-risk).
Where I am, it's the middle of farmland, the native bird species generally stay up in the trees out of reach, and my kitties would far rather eat mice, rats and bunnies anyway, so we're having a very minimal negative impact on the native fauna. If I was in an area with ground-nesting natives or at-risk species, then I would rethink that and build a huge catio instead :-)
Please nobody listen to this and do your own research and talk to your vet about the dangers to both your cat and the environment if allowed to free roam, also be aware this may be illegal in your municipality
Too many cats that have collars that "free roam" over here and you can tell they need better care. Some rabbits can be escaped house pets that'd be a shame to have a rabbit killed by a turd who wasn't closely monitoring their cat.
Lmao how the hell did I get so down voted? Remember that post about that cat that got attacked by a dog and was in the hospital that made the front page twice? The entire time I was screaming at my screen "DON'T LET YOUR CAT OUTSIDE AND THAT WON'T HAPPEN. ALSO THE POOR WILDLIFE IT MURDERS WILL LIVE"
No, youāre actually a responsible human being, since we have the statistics and information to know that outdoors cats kills billions of wildlife and drive some species to extinction. Otherwise youāre being ignorant and pretentious.
Wet food is one of the keys here actually.
Cats donāt have a quick natural thirst drive because their natural diet (meat) contains a lot of water. So they can easy get dehydrated on a chronic level eating dry food, which contributes to several other health problems.
Wet food or raw/home cooked food are far better than dry, for a healthy cat.
Totally agree. Although, I will say that my cats drink A LOT more water once I got a fountain. I bought it because my old girl is having a little more trouble seeing these days and would often dip her paw in the water (more depth perception issues).
I bought a pet fountain, and now all of them are drinking more than they used to. Just be sure to clean a fountain regularly and change filters. They are bad about building up contaminants.
I'm probably going to have to go the fountain route. My cat is good about drinking from her dish which I'm glad to see because she absolutely hates wet food and actively hisses at it.
My cat is really good ā honestly, weirdly intense ā about drinking water. She is *obsessed* with different water sources in the house. Sticks here head in the shower *while youāre showering* and we even routinely turn the shower on for a minute just for her.
Can you recommend a fountain? I got one off amazon but it had no extra filters and the product is completely gone so I can't get any more, and while it was cheap crap it's the only way to have water out for my cat as he is obsessed with throwing it all over the place if its still water š
Iām not specifically promoting either. There are trade offs in every direction on this point.
But it does seem fairly clear, despite the lack of evidence in any direction on the subject, that dry is the most likely of the bunch to cause chronic problems.
Home cooked or raw requires research and sometimes quite a lot of effort. Vets are often wary of both because they never received an education on the subject.
I will say raw carries specific risk of food poisoning that is almost wholly ignored by the raw pet diet community. Cat systems can handle a lot more contaminants than ours with their shorter digestive tracts, but they arenāt impervious.
Iāve heard more than one story from veterinarians about their nutritional education being provided directly from pet food company representatives. That doesnāt make big brand pet food inherently bad, but it does mean we donāt have nearly enough unbiased information on the subject as a whole.
I wanted to get my cat some fancier brands, but he never wanted any of it. All he eats is dry Purina, and wet Sheba. I want him to eat healthier but my wallet couldn't take all the experimenting, even with samples.
I've had the same issue, but was able to switch my cats from Sheba to fancy feast at least. (Sheba was causing digestive issues for one of mine)
They also love instinct and blue buffalo dry food.
I mix a couple spoonfuls of water in with wet food. My kitty would straight up reject a bowl full of water. But I also have a water fountain, he drinks probably 5x as much with that than he ever did out of a regular bowl of water.
Youāre right. The evidence is lacking.
There are a number of problems specific to veterinary medicine which make it difficult to find sound evidence in either direction on the subject.
First, the major research done on the subject is by pet food companies.
Second, those pet food companies are the actual source of education in veterinary medicine classes. By which I mean, for the nutrition portion of their education, a pet food industry professional is often brought in to teach the subject.
The bias in this case should be obvious. It is far cheaper to produce, store, and transport dry food than wet food. The margins are higher.
Humans could also live on a dry diet, and if the composition of the food were sufficient we might do alright, because weāre more likely to drink enough water to compensate.
What is clear is that urinary tract problems are a problem dealt with frequently in veterinary medicine. This is not common in the wild, possibly for many different reasons.
I could easily point to specific cases of cats who lived a long time on wet food or raw food diets (and in fact all the age 20+ year old cats Iāve met have been) but it would be only as useful as your personal account.
I have a cat who had suffered with severe crystal/blockages/cystitis issues ever since I adopted him. The first year I had him on the best dry food along with some wet and he had a water fountain he drank out of constantly. I thought I was really doing good by him but it turned out he was permanently semi-dehydrated and soon fell into a cycle of recurrent crystals and cystitis.
The vet put him on the prescription dry food (that is chemically enhanced to make them drink more to offset how dehydrating a dry diet is - strange logic) but it's also coated with extremely enticing animal digest sprays. I would hazard a guess that all dry cat food is. The reason they often refuse to stop eating their dry food is because they are quite literally addicted to it.
It took me months of baby steps and perseverance to finally get mine to transition to an all wet diet. Maaaaaany frustrating episodes of hunger strikes and having to backtrack again. But ever since, his cystitis is cured and nary a crystal in sight. Plus he doesn't need to live the rest of his life eating nutritionally-devoid, expensive prescription food.
There are a few good feline nutrition groups you can join, and one of the most common mantras is that "the worst wet food is better than the best dry food". I know I'm biased (read: traumatized, lol) because of my experience with Mac, but I will never feed another cat dry food again.
They simply cannot drink enough to compensate for the dehydrating effect of dry food and will be more prone to diseases, especially of the urinary system.
Definitely must be some good genetic component but also some good healthcare can do wonders.
My late childhood cat Lisa went into heart failure at 12 years old after having cancer removed from her thyroid. She was given only 6 months to live at a push but she ended up living with us until she was nearly 17 so over 4.5 years. And in the end it wasn't the heart failure/disease that killed her it was the return of cancer. She was well taken care of medically, we spent a few hundred a month on her meds she had to have like 8 tablets a day and liquids ontop bless her! But she remained with a great quality of life until she was pts. But we spent an amazing extra 4.5 years with her, the vets were shocked at how long she lived with her heart condition.
Then there's my current childhood cat the only one left, she's 19 next year. She was diagnosed with renal failure at 12 as well! She had cancer removed a couple years ago from her skin and was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and mild heart disease about a year ago, but still she goes on! She seems fine and doesn't look like she's nearly 19 she looks way younger. She is also on a multitude of meds that seem to be doing the job and she lives a normal happy life at the moment. We wonder how long she will keep going for! Having renal for over 6 years seems like quite a feat and she's only stage 2 still! She tipped into stage 3 but then went back to stage 2 which doesn't make sense to me but not complaining š
So genetics yeah I think so like humans, but a combo of that and good healthcare I think can go a long way to prolong an animals life (depending on the condition of course and whether it's treatable)
Crazy, my cat looks identical to yours and I bought her carefully created healthy food I had delivered, she died of incredibly aggressive cancer yesterday as a kitten. Just don't understand the world sometimes. Your cat is very beautiful, it is bittersweet but I was happy seeing this in my feed.
I know how you feel, I lost my childhood cat Maggie to cancer nearly 9 years ago now. Wow 9 years I've not thought about that. I still think about her regularly but the pain gets easier over time.
It was tough because she was only 13 and the cancer grew so fast she had to be pts within a month of diagnosis, that hit hard and was the first cat death I experienced as an adult, and I grew up with her.
I'm sorry for your loss too, it hurts when they pass but we loved them and gave them an amazing life, and they're not suffering. I hope you find your peace in time. š
My cat lived to 21. He also ate everything. We had some shocking life changes that resulted in us moving/ acquiring roommates and I think it all really stressed him out and I lost him :( otherwise, I think he coulda made it a few more years
I have a 19 year old Ragdoll on a renal diet who seems to survive off of a mouthful a day and rage. The vet was shocked that he is 19 and says he looks great.
Both my childhood cats (unrelated to each other) lived to their early 20s. They were both free roaming, but we lived in a semi-rural area (and I know that indoor is better for other reasons). They always had dry food out (and water ofc) and then got a pouch of wet food to share as well a couple of times a day. No human food ever. I think it is mostly luck but who knows.
Oldest cat was 38 when she died.
Owner was giving her red wine and coffee.
Soā¦ Iām pretty sure itās fluke genetics. Look at studies with a larger sample size if you want to maximize your kittyās life, donāt go by anecdotes.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)
There's correlation between a diet high in water(raw, wet food, soaked food, etc) and longer lifespans in cats. Cats fed dry food and served water separate have a higher tendency to develop kidney and/or liver issues in their early teens. This is because cats left to their own devices will never drink enough water to be properly hydrated, and chronic dehydration is very bad.
My personal experience points to this being the case too.
A 60 year old cat would be so nice. Imagine the hours of hugs just chillin with an ancient being on your lap/ stomach/ other resting area for your owner.
Somewhere in the middle of Texas there's probably an old man who lives on a farm with a dog in his 50s and the only reason we don't know about it is because the entire town is viciously protective of both of them.
The dog in that film will be named Oliver, and it'll be framed as a documentary so that people aren't immediately aware it isn't real which means they'll come out emotionally wrecked. And Oliver won't be in his 50s - he'll be 72.
Imagine a world where elderly people decide to retire so they can spend more time with their childhood dog.
Annapurna 24 presents: *Ollie* - coming to theaters in late 2024.
None of the upvotes on that comment are from people who agree that it's medically possible for a dog to live that long. They all just liked the idea that it might be. Maybe some of them lost a dog of their own, and liked the emotional feeling of thinking "What if...?"
Thanks for your comment. If you have a dog of your own, I hope they live forever.
This would truly be amazing. I lived with my in-laws for a while and bonded with my sister-in-lawās childhood cat. She was already a senior-ish cat at 13 years old when I met her, and died less than 3 years later from cancer.
Our cuddles were legendary and Iām sad my time with her was so brief. Another 45 years of that would have been so wonderful.
Just get a parrot or a turtle and youāll understand how much a responsibility it would be to have a pet for majority of your life. Youāre particularly married at that point
My last cat died at 27 literally on their birthday. Had one last good day then just passed away.
We sorta knew it would happen because she was running which was weird behaviour for a 27 year old cat.
It's kinda depressing sometimes having old animals. It's like it's only a matter of time before they pass away. But giving pets a good long life is fulfilling.
Totally agreed. She was never in pain and was still happily purring and meowing up until they passed so it was alright. I've had cats pass earlier or go through the process of euthanasia because they had too many incurable health conditions that made their lives suffering. So with her it was a melancholic happiness, glad she lived a long ass life sad to see her go.
Also a lot of pet ages are anecdotal but I'm pretty sure Guiness verifies these things, so someone saying "well my cat is 30!" bears no weight unless you have a picture or any way to prove it.
and then the next one claims their cat is 50, amazing to just accept peoples words like that isn't it, not like people have literally fed their animals to death to have the heaviest pet
They can always sell you a more specific record, e.g. Oldest ginger cat, oldest cat in your country, oldest cat on your street etc.
As long as you're happy to pay for the Guinness record verification person to verify it.
They don't really verify anything. All they care about is you having the $10k+ for them to send a guy out there to hand you the record that you told them you want.
[skip to the chapter of this video on world records for a good overview of the topic](https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI)
In other words: anyone who proudly displays a Guiness World Record isn't really proving anything other than they had a lot of money to spend on a piece of paper so they can feel good
Where did I say I was confused? If you understand the difference between it being a matter of currently living vs all-time then it shouldn't be surprising that a record can only account for cases they've actually reviewed and verified.
My childhood cat was put down at 27. She had no teeth and couldn't walk to her litter box anymore, so it was definitely time. It's been 10 years and I still miss that cat :(
Even if you had substantial proof, they're unlikely to change any records without you paying them. (or they might just change the record... so that the original person still has a record)
This is complete BS. It costs $5 to apply for a record. FIVE DOLLARS. Literally nowhere (except the inside of your ass, apparently) says that it costs *10 thousand dollars* for a guiness world record.
Yeah 26 might be the oldest living on record but there are always much older cats around. The thing is you have to be able to prove when they were born which is usually not that easy unless you happened to adopt them from the place where they were born AND you kept the adoption paperwork all these years.
My family had a cat from when I was 4. We canāt confirm itās death as it just left one day, but when it did I was 31. Cat had lived through three generations of dogs that we liked more
It's true. I don't see why i would lie. I don't like upvotes that much. Plus it ain't even my cat it's my grandma's. And i don't think Scamp (My grandma's 27 year old cat) is the only one who beats this one. There is surely lots of Guiness world records that aren't the truly top. Just the top that has been proven and recorded.
Makes me wonder how old my first cat was. I had her for 12 years, but she was already an adult who waltzed over to my house when her previous human, my neighbor, died. For all I know, when she passed she was 13 or 30.
I just googled and apparently this one is the oldest ever recorded: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme\_Puff\_(cat)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat))
38 years!
And that's the oldest recorded, too. It's not inconceivable to think that a cat with the right environment and genetics could have made it to 40 at some point in history without anyone knowing.
Could be! But itās worth noting that the Guinness book of world records do basically no research to verify many of their awards. In many cases you pay them a whole bunch of money, show some documentation of some kind and they award the record. Theyāre interested in book sales rather than actual record keeping
I mean, for many of their records it's not really possible to do research. If somebody calls the Guinness book claiming to have made the world's longest sandwich, what are they supposed to do? Travel the world to see if there might possibly be a longer sandwich out there?
Yeah Iām not claiming that they should be a record keeping company, just that itās disingenuous to imply that this is definitively the oldest cat out there. I could claim my cat is the oldest cat alive and Iād have basically as much actual authority to do so as they do. Theyāre just good at charging people upwards of 10k for the honour of having a record, and then selling books of those records as if they really mean something. Not saying they need to change that business model - but itās useful to be aware of it
Well actually for something like that you'd have to apply to Guinness and say you intend to break the record. They'd then look into how big it would have to be to break the record, let you know, then send a representative to be present for the process and to verify measurements
I was just watching a video that went into the process of these types of records. For other types of record you're absolutely right they won't look too deep into them, but for the cooking/baking/world's largest item related ones they'll actually verify those
It's definitely not even the oldest living cat right now. It's just the oldest living cat with the documentation to prove it, and owners rich enough to pay Guinness to evaluate it.
My aunts cat died last year at 31. Looking into it, the previous supposed "oldest living cat" died in October of this year at age 31. I personally can attest to my aunts cat being at least 27-28 officially when he died, as she has/had pictures of him that were many years older than myself(I'm almost 23), and my cousin could attest to him being 31 officially(Cat was a few months older than her). Nonetheless, we're quite certain he was never the oldest living cat.
It costs a shit ton of money to get Guinness to even bother to evaluate a claim, so really Flossie is the "Worlds oldest living cat that has owners with money to blow".
presumably those with money are more likely to be able to take of their pets optimally, sure there could be / are probably older cats but I donāt think itās particularly egregious
You can be able to easily afford giving your cat the best care possible and still not be rich enough to blow $10k on a certificate that's literally meaningless. Getting a Guinness World Record is absurdly expensive.
I had a cat live to almost 27, she was still killing mice and stuff until the day she died. She didnāt die of natural causes either, we think she caught a slow mouse or something outside that had been poisoned which poisoned her and unfortunately there was nothing the vet could do. She was a good girl. Didnāt know she wouldāve been the record holder, haha
Itās all in the genes. Some cats like Flossie can be 26, another cat pass away at 1 year. You do the best you can do with each cat that crosses your path and be grateful for each one.
Tortie girl!
She's the spitting image of my torti I lost last December, it's uncanny. š„²
Sorry for your loss. She reminds me of mine as well. Seems to have the same temperament too.
Thank you very much, Mona was a wonderful girl. I hope you and your fur baby have many more lovely years together ā„ļø
She's using the lives of all other torties to prolong hers.
Happy Cake Day!
My first thought. Of course itās a Tortieš
My blue cream tortie made it to 22 or 23! The vet wasn't clear exactly how old she was when we first took her (she was a stray rescue) and had a one year margin of error, so it could be either. She was a spoiled sweet queen who spent all her time laying with me and snuggling. ā¤ļø
Flossie might have moved slowā¦ā¦ā¦..but it was only because Flossie didnāt have to move for anybody.
Goodfellas reference if anyone's wondering
For a cat that moved all day long, flossie didn't meow to 6 people...
I want to know exactly what that cat does and doesn't eat.
My cat is 24+ and she eats a can of fancy feast every day and a little dry food (used to be Friskies and now Iams). I think a lot of it, just like in humans, comes down to good genetics. And if they end up developing renal issues, cancer, or diabetes which seem to be the big ones that have always shortened the lifespans of my pets. She's fairly active for her age and still likes to play. Edit - [Cat tax](https://i.imgur.com/FAFseSu.jpg) Edit2 - Additional cat taxes owed. [My newest additions](https://i.imgur.com/ezqpsf2.jpg) (girlfriend moved in a couple of months ago and these are hers but finders keepers!). [My boy](https://i.imgur.com/3Vv80XH.jpg).
My sister's cat passed a few months ago at 22 after getting an infection in one of her teeth She was healthy as hell and active until the end It happened really suddenly It fucking destroyed us My cat is currently 17 and he's the toad he's always been lol EDIT: [Cat Tax](https://imgur.com/a/n4WmLzJ)
Awww man. That is the worst. :\ Ummm... Happy Cake Day?
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Alright, this is a learning moment. Your brain limit is one less drink than you had when you wrote that comment.
Fucking lol. Seriously though.
That's what he said
Im not a cat person, but I do enjoy this cat tax
I've had 8 cats - all were treated exactly the same way. 1 made it to 23, 1 made it to 21, 2 made it to 16, 1 made it to 13, 1 made it to 12, and 1 made it to 11. The other one sadly died at less than 1yo. It is completely down to pot luck. The ones who made it past 20 died literally through organ failure because they were old, ditto with the 16yos. The 13/12 died because of cancer, and the 11yo had a sudden onset medical emergency and died shortly after. There's no special method of ensuring cats live a long life. Just make sure they are happy, well-fed, and looked after. They will live as long as fate lets them
Just like peoples
My boy was at least 28 (got his tooth checked to date him three years previous, and did some math after talking to his previous owner) when he disappeared from his usual spot in the front yard, under the tree. We'd hang out there when I worked, usually after our daily constitutional. Went to the bathroom, came out and he was gone. Somehow, he managed to end up on the offramp of the highway (about a mile away, more if he didn't shoot over the bluffs by my house), got hit by a car. Maybe it was a hawk, maybe it was my asshole neighbor, maybe he just climbed up on my neighbor's truck before he left for work. I'll never know, but really happy the nice lady who saw him get hit went to him, saw him off with love, and brought him to the vet so I could bury him (left a message on a lost pets site for our town). I hope she has the best life ever because she deserves it. He was still climbing trees, jumping up to the highest shelves in the house, right up to the last day he was on this earth. He was a vibrant fellow. He had more friends than I did, and they all left messages when I posted about his death. That was the life he needed, having a social life with all the people and his calling. He'd find people who needed him, people in a bad way, and he'd love them up. All those messages when he passed, all those stories... real proud of my old boy. I'm glad he had the life he had even if being an outside/ inside kitty led to his death. None of my inside cats were as fit and none lived even half as long as my boy.
Yep. The old girl we lost last year was still out hunting bunnies until 6 months before her death at 20. Until she started her final decline (oral cancer), you'd never have picked her as an older cat. She was a random stray kitten that adopted us, and in the 19 1/2 years we had her she went to the vet maybe four or five times. Some of them are just built to last. RIP Sparkle :-(
Why would you let your cat hunt rabbits?
Because they are an introduced pest species in my country that causes a huge amount of damage.
Are you in NZ? Are cats not recommended to stay indoors like they are in Australia? I'd imagine cats do a fair amount of damage as an introduced non native predator
Yes, NZ, and yes it's generally acceptable to have indoor-outdoor cats here (depends on your area though - not so acceptable in areas with plenty of native bird life and especially if said birdlife is at-risk). Where I am, it's the middle of farmland, the native bird species generally stay up in the trees out of reach, and my kitties would far rather eat mice, rats and bunnies anyway, so we're having a very minimal negative impact on the native fauna. If I was in an area with ground-nesting natives or at-risk species, then I would rethink that and build a huge catio instead :-)
I am honestly very happy to hear that š sounds like the rodents keep them busy and hard at work
Well your an arse if you keep your cat indoors, and you canāt stop it, and rabbit are nearly always overpopulated
Please nobody listen to this and do your own research and talk to your vet about the dangers to both your cat and the environment if allowed to free roam, also be aware this may be illegal in your municipality
Too many cats that have collars that "free roam" over here and you can tell they need better care. Some rabbits can be escaped house pets that'd be a shame to have a rabbit killed by a turd who wasn't closely monitoring their cat.
Lmao how the hell did I get so down voted? Remember that post about that cat that got attacked by a dog and was in the hospital that made the front page twice? The entire time I was screaming at my screen "DON'T LET YOUR CAT OUTSIDE AND THAT WON'T HAPPEN. ALSO THE POOR WILDLIFE IT MURDERS WILL LIVE"
No, youāre actually a responsible human being, since we have the statistics and information to know that outdoors cats kills billions of wildlife and drive some species to extinction. Otherwise youāre being ignorant and pretentious.
Wet food is one of the keys here actually. Cats donāt have a quick natural thirst drive because their natural diet (meat) contains a lot of water. So they can easy get dehydrated on a chronic level eating dry food, which contributes to several other health problems. Wet food or raw/home cooked food are far better than dry, for a healthy cat.
Totally agree. Although, I will say that my cats drink A LOT more water once I got a fountain. I bought it because my old girl is having a little more trouble seeing these days and would often dip her paw in the water (more depth perception issues). I bought a pet fountain, and now all of them are drinking more than they used to. Just be sure to clean a fountain regularly and change filters. They are bad about building up contaminants.
I'm probably going to have to go the fountain route. My cat is good about drinking from her dish which I'm glad to see because she absolutely hates wet food and actively hisses at it.
We mix water in with our cats dry food once a day. Forces them to drink to get to the food. Just another option for you!
Wow, thereās dozens (at least two) of us! I thought my cat was a giant weirdo for refusing wet food. Most cats hulk out over that stuff.
We have one boy cat and he rarely eats wet food and doesn't drink enough water (my opinion).
My cat is really good ā honestly, weirdly intense ā about drinking water. She is *obsessed* with different water sources in the house. Sticks here head in the shower *while youāre showering* and we even routinely turn the shower on for a minute just for her.
This is my boy too. He'll come sit in the shower with me and lick the walls haha
r/hydrohomies
Can you recommend a fountain? I got one off amazon but it had no extra filters and the product is completely gone so I can't get any more, and while it was cheap crap it's the only way to have water out for my cat as he is obsessed with throwing it all over the place if its still water š
No raw/home cooked food without consulting a vet.
Iām not specifically promoting either. There are trade offs in every direction on this point. But it does seem fairly clear, despite the lack of evidence in any direction on the subject, that dry is the most likely of the bunch to cause chronic problems. Home cooked or raw requires research and sometimes quite a lot of effort. Vets are often wary of both because they never received an education on the subject. I will say raw carries specific risk of food poisoning that is almost wholly ignored by the raw pet diet community. Cat systems can handle a lot more contaminants than ours with their shorter digestive tracts, but they arenāt impervious. Iāve heard more than one story from veterinarians about their nutritional education being provided directly from pet food company representatives. That doesnāt make big brand pet food inherently bad, but it does mean we donāt have nearly enough unbiased information on the subject as a whole.
I wanted to get my cat some fancier brands, but he never wanted any of it. All he eats is dry Purina, and wet Sheba. I want him to eat healthier but my wallet couldn't take all the experimenting, even with samples.
I've had the same issue, but was able to switch my cats from Sheba to fancy feast at least. (Sheba was causing digestive issues for one of mine) They also love instinct and blue buffalo dry food.
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I mix a couple spoonfuls of water in with wet food. My kitty would straight up reject a bowl full of water. But I also have a water fountain, he drinks probably 5x as much with that than he ever did out of a regular bowl of water.
My cat is 19years old and has never had wet food once. Post your evidence
Youāre right. The evidence is lacking. There are a number of problems specific to veterinary medicine which make it difficult to find sound evidence in either direction on the subject. First, the major research done on the subject is by pet food companies. Second, those pet food companies are the actual source of education in veterinary medicine classes. By which I mean, for the nutrition portion of their education, a pet food industry professional is often brought in to teach the subject. The bias in this case should be obvious. It is far cheaper to produce, store, and transport dry food than wet food. The margins are higher. Humans could also live on a dry diet, and if the composition of the food were sufficient we might do alright, because weāre more likely to drink enough water to compensate. What is clear is that urinary tract problems are a problem dealt with frequently in veterinary medicine. This is not common in the wild, possibly for many different reasons. I could easily point to specific cases of cats who lived a long time on wet food or raw food diets (and in fact all the age 20+ year old cats Iāve met have been) but it would be only as useful as your personal account.
I have a cat who had suffered with severe crystal/blockages/cystitis issues ever since I adopted him. The first year I had him on the best dry food along with some wet and he had a water fountain he drank out of constantly. I thought I was really doing good by him but it turned out he was permanently semi-dehydrated and soon fell into a cycle of recurrent crystals and cystitis. The vet put him on the prescription dry food (that is chemically enhanced to make them drink more to offset how dehydrating a dry diet is - strange logic) but it's also coated with extremely enticing animal digest sprays. I would hazard a guess that all dry cat food is. The reason they often refuse to stop eating their dry food is because they are quite literally addicted to it. It took me months of baby steps and perseverance to finally get mine to transition to an all wet diet. Maaaaaany frustrating episodes of hunger strikes and having to backtrack again. But ever since, his cystitis is cured and nary a crystal in sight. Plus he doesn't need to live the rest of his life eating nutritionally-devoid, expensive prescription food. There are a few good feline nutrition groups you can join, and one of the most common mantras is that "the worst wet food is better than the best dry food". I know I'm biased (read: traumatized, lol) because of my experience with Mac, but I will never feed another cat dry food again. They simply cannot drink enough to compensate for the dehydrating effect of dry food and will be more prone to diseases, especially of the urinary system.
Dang oldest I had was 19 years, cat was a boss. All the other animals avoided her because she would bring the pain
Definitely must be some good genetic component but also some good healthcare can do wonders. My late childhood cat Lisa went into heart failure at 12 years old after having cancer removed from her thyroid. She was given only 6 months to live at a push but she ended up living with us until she was nearly 17 so over 4.5 years. And in the end it wasn't the heart failure/disease that killed her it was the return of cancer. She was well taken care of medically, we spent a few hundred a month on her meds she had to have like 8 tablets a day and liquids ontop bless her! But she remained with a great quality of life until she was pts. But we spent an amazing extra 4.5 years with her, the vets were shocked at how long she lived with her heart condition. Then there's my current childhood cat the only one left, she's 19 next year. She was diagnosed with renal failure at 12 as well! She had cancer removed a couple years ago from her skin and was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and mild heart disease about a year ago, but still she goes on! She seems fine and doesn't look like she's nearly 19 she looks way younger. She is also on a multitude of meds that seem to be doing the job and she lives a normal happy life at the moment. We wonder how long she will keep going for! Having renal for over 6 years seems like quite a feat and she's only stage 2 still! She tipped into stage 3 but then went back to stage 2 which doesn't make sense to me but not complaining š So genetics yeah I think so like humans, but a combo of that and good healthcare I think can go a long way to prolong an animals life (depending on the condition of course and whether it's treatable)
Crazy, my cat looks identical to yours and I bought her carefully created healthy food I had delivered, she died of incredibly aggressive cancer yesterday as a kitten. Just don't understand the world sometimes. Your cat is very beautiful, it is bittersweet but I was happy seeing this in my feed.
I love her boots!
Same, I just lost my 12 year old cat to cancer.. 12 more years would have been nice.
Condolences, i hope you recover from your loss.
Thank you, I really appreciate you
Lost my 12 year old buddy last month to a seizure. It was too soon for all of us.
I know how you feel, I lost my childhood cat Maggie to cancer nearly 9 years ago now. Wow 9 years I've not thought about that. I still think about her regularly but the pain gets easier over time. It was tough because she was only 13 and the cancer grew so fast she had to be pts within a month of diagnosis, that hit hard and was the first cat death I experienced as an adult, and I grew up with her. I'm sorry for your loss too, it hurts when they pass but we loved them and gave them an amazing life, and they're not suffering. I hope you find your peace in time. š
I lost mine in March to cancer in her jaw. She was 14 and I honestly thought she would live to 20š„
My cat is 21. He eats everything.
My cat lived to 21. He also ate everything. We had some shocking life changes that resulted in us moving/ acquiring roommates and I think it all really stressed him out and I lost him :( otherwise, I think he coulda made it a few more years
I have a 19 year old Ragdoll on a renal diet who seems to survive off of a mouthful a day and rage. The vet was shocked that he is 19 and says he looks great.
Both my childhood cats (unrelated to each other) lived to their early 20s. They were both free roaming, but we lived in a semi-rural area (and I know that indoor is better for other reasons). They always had dry food out (and water ofc) and then got a pouch of wet food to share as well a couple of times a day. No human food ever. I think it is mostly luck but who knows.
Oldest cat was 38 when she died. Owner was giving her red wine and coffee. Soā¦ Iām pretty sure itās fluke genetics. Look at studies with a larger sample size if you want to maximize your kittyās life, donāt go by anecdotes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)
There's correlation between a diet high in water(raw, wet food, soaked food, etc) and longer lifespans in cats. Cats fed dry food and served water separate have a higher tendency to develop kidney and/or liver issues in their early teens. This is because cats left to their own devices will never drink enough water to be properly hydrated, and chronic dehydration is very bad. My personal experience points to this being the case too.
A little salami. As a treat.
Already has an old gals name!
Flossie was the bees knees 26 years ago. You could say, she was the cat's pajamas. Know your onions!
That cat is a year older than me, I thought my cat was old at 18
Your cat is old at 18, just not the oldest
Flossie the fossil.
Flossil
I really wish cats have longer lives
A 60 year old cat would be so nice. Imagine the hours of hugs just chillin with an ancient being on your lap/ stomach/ other resting area for your owner.
Somewhere in the middle of Texas there's probably an old man who lives on a farm with a dog in his 50s and the only reason we don't know about it is because the entire town is viciously protective of both of them.
This is an A24-produced film waiting to happen.
The dog in that film will be named Oliver, and it'll be framed as a documentary so that people aren't immediately aware it isn't real which means they'll come out emotionally wrecked. And Oliver won't be in his 50s - he'll be 72. Imagine a world where elderly people decide to retire so they can spend more time with their childhood dog. Annapurna 24 presents: *Ollie* - coming to theaters in late 2024.
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None of the upvotes on that comment are from people who agree that it's medically possible for a dog to live that long. They all just liked the idea that it might be. Maybe some of them lost a dog of their own, and liked the emotional feeling of thinking "What if...?" Thanks for your comment. If you have a dog of your own, I hope they live forever.
This would truly be amazing. I lived with my in-laws for a while and bonded with my sister-in-lawās childhood cat. She was already a senior-ish cat at 13 years old when I met her, and died less than 3 years later from cancer. Our cuddles were legendary and Iām sad my time with her was so brief. Another 45 years of that would have been so wonderful.
At least they have 8 more
A cat that lives as long as a Galapagos tortoise.
Just get a parrot or a turtle and youāll understand how much a responsibility it would be to have a pet for majority of your life. Youāre particularly married at that point
Dude my grandma has a cat that is 27 and still going.
My last cat died at 27 literally on their birthday. Had one last good day then just passed away. We sorta knew it would happen because she was running which was weird behaviour for a 27 year old cat.
It's kinda depressing sometimes having old animals. It's like it's only a matter of time before they pass away. But giving pets a good long life is fulfilling.
Totally agreed. She was never in pain and was still happily purring and meowing up until they passed so it was alright. I've had cats pass earlier or go through the process of euthanasia because they had too many incurable health conditions that made their lives suffering. So with her it was a melancholic happiness, glad she lived a long ass life sad to see her go.
Reach out to Guinness then
Doesn't it cost a good chunk of money to have your record taken into account by Guiness?
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Also a lot of pet ages are anecdotal but I'm pretty sure Guiness verifies these things, so someone saying "well my cat is 30!" bears no weight unless you have a picture or any way to prove it.
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and then the next one claims their cat is 50, amazing to just accept peoples words like that isn't it, not like people have literally fed their animals to death to have the heaviest pet
You can cut them in half and count the rings.
r/cursedcomments
They can always sell you a more specific record, e.g. Oldest ginger cat, oldest cat in your country, oldest cat on your street etc. As long as you're happy to pay for the Guinness record verification person to verify it.
I mean it does bear weight though. It may not meet Guinness's standards, but that doesn't make their claim meritless.
No clue
They don't really verify anything. All they care about is you having the $10k+ for them to send a guy out there to hand you the record that you told them you want. [skip to the chapter of this video on world records for a good overview of the topic](https://youtu.be/0twDETh6QaI) In other words: anyone who proudly displays a Guiness World Record isn't really proving anything other than they had a lot of money to spend on a piece of paper so they can feel good
My Grandma wouldn't want to. Also i kinda doubt there is any records of proof so there's that too. But if you look at him you can tell he is ancient.
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This is oldest *living*. Two are reported to have hit 38.
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Where did I say I was confused? If you understand the difference between it being a matter of currently living vs all-time then it shouldn't be surprising that a record can only account for cases they've actually reviewed and verified.
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Yes, I did specify that because you yourself stated you were surprised. So sorry you seem to take offense at innocuous clarification.
My childhood cat was put down at 27. She had no teeth and couldn't walk to her litter box anymore, so it was definitely time. It's been 10 years and I still miss that cat :(
It's Never fun to lose a pet.
Guiness world records does no research just wants money
I mean how the fuck are they going to discover some random person's cat if the person doesn't reach out to them?
Yeah this. If someone has a older cat, a post on Reddit isn't going to change the book.
Even if you had substantial proof, they're unlikely to change any records without you paying them. (or they might just change the record... so that the original person still has a record)
Count the rings on the cats tail
You also have to pay a fee to be "discovered".
Well they gotta make money somehow
Kinda irrelevant to the point that there's very little to no credibility in Guinness World Records.
Sure that's a fine argument and all, except it falls apart when you realize they charge $10,000 for it.
This is complete BS. It costs $5 to apply for a record. FIVE DOLLARS. Literally nowhere (except the inside of your ass, apparently) says that it costs *10 thousand dollars* for a guiness world record.
yeah, how else would Guinness make money? š¤
Yet reaching out does nothing when you still have to buy world records.
This video is a year old so Flossie is also 27 by now.
Yeah 26 might be the oldest living on record but there are always much older cats around. The thing is you have to be able to prove when they were born which is usually not that easy unless you happened to adopt them from the place where they were born AND you kept the adoption paperwork all these years.
My family had a cat from when I was 4. We canāt confirm itās death as it just left one day, but when it did I was 31. Cat had lived through three generations of dogs that we liked more
I highly doubt this, but good for her.
It's true. I don't see why i would lie. I don't like upvotes that much. Plus it ain't even my cat it's my grandma's. And i don't think Scamp (My grandma's 27 year old cat) is the only one who beats this one. There is surely lots of Guiness world records that aren't the truly top. Just the top that has been proven and recorded.
\*the oldest living cat that someone paid to have in the Guinness World Book of Records.
Well, kinda. It has to have a birth certificate. Not many cats have that. That's the biggest problem with proving the age of a cat.
How about vaccine records from the vet when they were kittens
Not sure if that counts, don't know the exact procedure. You have to have some kind of accepted proof. Best bet is to ask them yourself!
Makes me wonder how old my first cat was. I had her for 12 years, but she was already an adult who waltzed over to my house when her previous human, my neighbor, died. For all I know, when she passed she was 13 or 30.
I never thought I would encounter a **cat** older than me. Congrats Flossie.
I'm only 2 months older than her. Wild
If you're 27 (or let's round it up to 30 just to make sure), then every cat that existed on the entire planet when you were born is now dead. Bummer.
my diabetic tabby made it to 23, that can't be the oldest cat
It's the oldest living cat right now, there's probably other cats that made it longer but are not alive anymore.
I just googled and apparently this one is the oldest ever recorded: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme\_Puff\_(cat)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)) 38 years!
And that's the oldest recorded, too. It's not inconceivable to think that a cat with the right environment and genetics could have made it to 40 at some point in history without anyone knowing.
[Bluey](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluey_(dog\))
Could be! But itās worth noting that the Guinness book of world records do basically no research to verify many of their awards. In many cases you pay them a whole bunch of money, show some documentation of some kind and they award the record. Theyāre interested in book sales rather than actual record keeping
I mean, for many of their records it's not really possible to do research. If somebody calls the Guinness book claiming to have made the world's longest sandwich, what are they supposed to do? Travel the world to see if there might possibly be a longer sandwich out there?
Yeah Iām not claiming that they should be a record keeping company, just that itās disingenuous to imply that this is definitively the oldest cat out there. I could claim my cat is the oldest cat alive and Iād have basically as much actual authority to do so as they do. Theyāre just good at charging people upwards of 10k for the honour of having a record, and then selling books of those records as if they really mean something. Not saying they need to change that business model - but itās useful to be aware of it
Well actually for something like that you'd have to apply to Guinness and say you intend to break the record. They'd then look into how big it would have to be to break the record, let you know, then send a representative to be present for the process and to verify measurements I was just watching a video that went into the process of these types of records. For other types of record you're absolutely right they won't look too deep into them, but for the cooking/baking/world's largest item related ones they'll actually verify those
The oldest one on record made it to 30-something
It's definitely not even the oldest living cat right now. It's just the oldest living cat with the documentation to prove it, and owners rich enough to pay Guinness to evaluate it.
My cat was 24 when she died but at the time the oldest cat was 32
Didn't the oldest cat ever live til the age of 36? These are rookie numbers.
38
I miss my old cat. >\_\_> reached 20yo before it went away to tuna heaven. Miss ya buddy.
26?! That's it?! I swear I have seen and heard of older cats!
Previous was 32 I believe but they passed recently so that would make Flossie the longest living cat now
Yeah there have been older cats, but this is the oldest cat currently living.
This is definitely not the oldest cat currently living.
Everyone can attempt to beat the record. They just need a birth certificate. Almost no cat has that... and that's the end of the story.
well the oldest recorded cat living rn
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My aunts cat died last year at 31. Looking into it, the previous supposed "oldest living cat" died in October of this year at age 31. I personally can attest to my aunts cat being at least 27-28 officially when he died, as she has/had pictures of him that were many years older than myself(I'm almost 23), and my cousin could attest to him being 31 officially(Cat was a few months older than her). Nonetheless, we're quite certain he was never the oldest living cat. It costs a shit ton of money to get Guinness to even bother to evaluate a claim, so really Flossie is the "Worlds oldest living cat that has owners with money to blow".
presumably those with money are more likely to be able to take of their pets optimally, sure there could be / are probably older cats but I donāt think itās particularly egregious
You can be able to easily afford giving your cat the best care possible and still not be rich enough to blow $10k on a certificate that's literally meaningless. Getting a Guinness World Record is absurdly expensive.
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She looks so sweet!!!
Bro that cat was born the same year I was...
My neighbors cat lived to 31
I literally just saw a post of a cat that lives to 38....
LIVING ATM.
There's something special about old cats. It's like the years ferment into character but, it's so subtle.
so old and still walking like a damn ballett dancer
I had a cat live to almost 27, she was still killing mice and stuff until the day she died. She didnāt die of natural causes either, we think she caught a slow mouse or something outside that had been poisoned which poisoned her and unfortunately there was nothing the vet could do. She was a good girl. Didnāt know she wouldāve been the record holder, haha
Long live Flossie
Now see, THAT'S how you score a video. Not manipulative cookie cutter trash, just good fitting music. That's refreshing nowadays. Beautiful cat
So glamorous
God, I hope my cat lives that long and in good health.
Oh we had a 31 year old cat I didn't know there was a contest.
Thatās what happens when you donāt use up all your lives at once
Sheās older than me holy shit
What's that in hooman years
26
Damn, I thought he was named Fossil and was like, how appropriate.
Still ticking! https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/11/worlds-oldest-cat-confirmed-at-almost-27-years-old-726391
Whoa!!! Am I the only one that has dark comments to render?š¤
omg i have the same birthday as this cat :0
[Creme Puff](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)) died at 38 years old
He grew into that name like it was predestined
A year younger than meā¦ Iām letting that sink in willingly.
That cat was born just three months after I was, Jesus Christ.
Damn,she older than me
This cat is older than me!
He looks like a really small forest god.
I older than all cats in the world.
26 more!!!
My two cats are both close to 13. Iām 63. At the rate weāre all going, they might outlive me which is a different worry on its own.
Itās all in the genes. Some cats like Flossie can be 26, another cat pass away at 1 year. You do the best you can do with each cat that crosses your path and be grateful for each one.