Meet Nutmeg: Could this be the oldest cat in the world?

oldest cat
Chris Stoddard
Chris Stoddard

A couple from Newcastle believe Nutmeg may be a record-breaking feline, claiming he has reached the grand old age of 31.

The Telegraph reports that Liz and Ian Finlay are looking for documentation to support their claim for the cat which they adopted as a stray. The couple say that they took Nutmeg, who they found in their garden in 1990, to their local Cats Protection League, where vets told them he was at least five years old. “We celebrate his birthday in March every year so we know it was around March 1990 when we got him,” Mr Finlay told the Newcastle Chronicle. “I sorted out an abscess on his neck and then we took him to the Cats Protection League to check him over. The vet there said he was an adult, around five years.” They say the secret to Nutmeg’s long life is his love of chicken. “He comes in every morning at 5am from his bed next door and we get up and feed him. We have no children so he is our baby.”

The Westway Veterinary Group posted photos of Nutmeg celebrating his birthday on Facebook.

Corduroy, aged 26, is officially the oldest cat in the world. He lives with his owner, Ashley Reed Okura, in Sisters, Oregon, in the United States. “The secret has been allowing him to be a cat - hunting and getting plenty of love,” explained Mrs Reed Okura when Corduroy was crowned by Guinness World Records. Born on August 1, 1989, Corduroy and his owner have been companions since he was a tiny kitten and she was just seven years old.

The oldest cat ever recorded was an American called Creme Puff who died in 2005 aged 38 years, 3 days - or 168 cat years.

(Story source: The Telegraph - October 2016)

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