Wondering what the oldest cats ever are? We have a feeling that this list might surprise you. On average, cats have a life expectancy of 12-18 years. However, a select few band of felines have managed to easily surpass that, putting in the kind of years that would see birthday cakes slowly immolated under the heat of all the candles.
But what are the oldest cats ever? We run through a list of the 10 most long-lived moggies.
1. Creme Puff – 38 years
Yes, you’ve read that correctly: one cat managed what amounts to the age of 168 in human years. The feline in question – a domestic cat called Creme Puff – was born in 1967, before passing away three days after its 38th birthday in 2005.
His owner, Jake Perry from Austin, Texas, credits Creme Puff’s extraordinary lifespan as being down to his diet of – on top of regular cat food – eggs, turkey bacon, broccoli, coffee with cream, as well as a small amount of red wine every two days to “circulate the arteries”, in his words.
2. Puss – 36 years
At one point the record holder, Puss was a tabby who lived in Clayhidon in Devon, UK until passing away at the age of 36.
Other than the identity of the cat’s owner – a Miss T Holway – very little has been recorded about Puss, other than a short entry in the 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of Records.
3. Baby – 37/38 years
While this one is trickier to verify, according to an article published in Farm Show magazine, this senior puss is likely to have reached at least 37 years of age, with the owner – Al Palusky of Duluth, Minnesota – having a photo of Baby dated 1973 from when he was aged three as evidence (he’s believed to have died in either 2007 or 2008).
Unlike Creme Puff, there doesn’t seem to have been any major secrets to Baby’s lifespan. He ate regular cat food and table scraps, and didn’t go outdoors, so just seems to have been genuinely fortunate to have lived so long.
4. Ma – 34
Another domestic tabby (there seems to be a bit of a pattern here!), Ma lived for 34 years and five months, ultimately passing away in November 1957.
Ma’s age was recorded in an entry in the South Devon Journal, describing her as “deaf and rather blind and her front paws have been disfigured by a rabbit trap”. Didn’t seem to hold her back though!
5. Granpa Rexs Allen – 34
It’s another entry in the list for Jake Perry from Texas. While Creme Puff is generally regarded as the oldest cat to ever live, the first one of Perry's cats to ever break the world record was with Granpa Rexs Allen.
Part Sphynx, part Devon Rex, lived from 1964 to 1998. According to Jake, Creme Puff and Granpa Rexs Allen is no fluke; thanks to the unique diet and lifestyle his cats have, he claims that a number of them have lived to well beyond 30 years of age.
6. Sarah – 33
Hailing from Christchurch, New Zealand, Sarah lived to the impressive age of 33 years and 6 months before passing away due to heart troubles.
While towards the end of her life she was deaf and required multiple toilet trips in the night, her owner, Fleur Ford, remembers her as being “pretty wonderful really” with “all her faculties” still present.
7. Tiger – 32
Ginger tabby Tiger from Illinois just about made it to his 32nd birthday, with information on Tiger’s life being posted on Reddit.
By all accounts, there was no great secret to Tiger’s lifespan – apparently he used to drink from the shower – but we guess some cats are just lucky! This one was clearly making the most of his nine lives.
8. Sasha – 33
Born in 1986 before passing away in 2019, beautiful tortoiseshell moggy Sasha from Newtonabbey in Northern Ireland lived a long life in spite of her traumatic early years.
Discovered as a stray by her owner, Beth O Neill, at the age of five in 1991, she lived a long old life. Beth mentioned in an interview that her daughter’s cat lived until at least the age of 24 – maybe there’s something in the water there!
9. Rubble – 32
Maine Coons are impressive-looking cats at the best of times, but this one had age on its side too. Rubble managed just short of his 32nd birthday, according to his owner, Michelle Heritage from Exeter in the UK.
Roughly equivalent to 145 cat years, Rubble’s owners were never interested in any kind of record status, saying that their family “would prefer if he was just left to live out his old age in peace.”
10. Miez Maz – 33
One of the oldest cats in the world could have lived for longer if it wasn’t for a tragic series of events.
Having been found by a passer by after wandering from his home at a train station in Tagerwilen, Switzerland, Miez Maz was taken to a vet after being mistaken for a stray, who subsequently put him to sleep. Had this not happened, he could well have become the oldest cat alive.
How to submit your cat as "oldest cat alive"
Do you know of a cat who might be the oldest one alive – or ever, come to that? Maybe it’s even your cat!
Regardless, if you would like to register them as a possible contender for the Guinness World Record, you can do over on their official website.
