14 DAY TRIAL // Guinness World Records has recognized a 24-year-old tortoiseshell cat from Bournemouth, UK, as the world's oldest living cat, Live Science informs.
Her name is Poppy and she was born in February 1990. In human years, the venerable moggy is 114, which puts her two years behind Misao Okawa, the world’s oldest person.
Poppy was adopted by Marguerite Corner when she was 5 years old from another owner, and she currently she lives with Mrs. Corner's daughter Jacqui West, her husband and two sons, four other cats, a rabbit and a hamster.
Poppy is now deaf and blind and she can get up the stairs, but despite her age, she is still the boss of the house. Although the old cat is now frail and weak, her owner says that if one of the other cats tries to approach her food, she bites them on the ear.
When people ask the family about their pet's longevity, they are not sure how to explain it, but Mrs. West tends to attribute her long life to diet and exercise.
“I guess she has a good diet and lots of exercise. She keeps herself fit by walking around and she eats a lot. She’s never been a big cat though. She is partial to the odd takeaway. We sometimes give her a bit of KFC chicken, fish and chips and even the odd bit of kebab meat,” she told the Daily Mail.
Jacqui said that last year, the cat had some health problems and they thought they would lose her on several occasions, but she recovered and carried on every time.
Poppy was crowned the oldest cat in the world following the death of Pinky, a cat from Hoyt, Kansas, who passed away last year at the age of 23. Mrs. West wrote to Guinness World Records in February after her pet turned 24, and Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records editor-in-chief, has now confirmed Poppy as the world’s oldest living cat.
“We've been overwhelmed with claims for the ‘oldest living cat’, with owners from across the globe making applications on behalf of their cats. Today, though, I'm pleased to confirm that we're recognizing Poppy from Bournemouth in the UK as the world's oldest living cat, at the age of 24 years,” Glenday said.
However, the tortoiseshell cat still has got a long way to go to beat the all-time record, as the oldest cat in history survived for an astonishing 38 years and three days. Its name was Creme Puff and lived in Austin, Texas.