The Guinness World Records has officially recognized a British cat, 27-year-old Flossie, as the oldest living cat. In general, the average life span of cats is 12-18 years. Flossie has come a long way and is still healthy and playful like a young cat. But given that her age is almost equivalent to 120 human years, her poor eyesight and being deaf is quite understandable.
Flossie is beautiful with a black and brown coat and has lived in different homes throughout her life. The current owner of Flossie is Vicki who tells that the cat quickly adapts to a new environment and is always playful and curious. It enjoys a big bowl of food on daily basis and loves to snuggle inside her favorite yellow blanket.
Image: Guinness World Records
The cat began with her journey of record in August 2022 when she was handed to one of the UK’s leading cat welfare charities called Cats Protection. Naomi Rosling, the Cats Protection’s branch coordinator said that Flossie is the oldest cat she has ever met and was surprised to find out this in her vet records.
The cat was left homeless in 2022 after 26 years of being a pet. As most cat owners prefer younger cats, people were not willing to adopt an old cat like Flossie. She had to stay under the care of Cats Protection. Though she found a new home and got a new mum to take care of her in her old age.
The story of Flossie is very interesting. It starts in December 1995 when Flossie was adopted by a worker at Merseyside Hospital after roaming free as a stray cat. After the death of her owner, she was taken care of by the sister of the previous owner.
After 14 years she needed a new home as the second owner also passed away. By this time, Flossie was 24 years old. She then lived with the son of the previous owner who later asked Cats Protection to take care of the cat. Then Flossie met Vicki Green, who was experienced in taking care of older cats but little did she know that she is welcoming a record-holder cat into her house.
The oldest living dog was Gino who lived for 22 years and has been named in Guinness World Records. The oldest cat who ever lived was Crème Puff who lived for astonishing 38 years and 3 days.