The World's Oldest-Ever Cat Lived On A Delicious-Sounding Diet – Including Wine

While we all wish our pets would live forever, only a few animals have extraordinarily long life spans, so we love to celebrate them. There are tortoise birthday parties, of course, but today, let's take a journey into the world of some of the longest-living cats – including Creme Puff, the oldest cat to have ever lived.

Creme Puff was a mixed tabby cat who lived in Austin, Texas, with her owner, Jake Perry. She was born on August 3, 1967, and died on August 6, 2005, a remarkable lifespan of 38 years and 3 days that earned her the well-deserved title of "oldest cat ever" from Guinness World Records. Remarkably, Perry had also owned the previous record-holder, a cat called Grandpa Rex Allen, who lived until the age of 34.

The potential secret to their long lives was revealed in a 2015 interview with Atlas Obscura, who Perry told that "on top of dry commercial cat food," the cats were given "a home-cooked breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, broccoli, coffee with cream, and—every two days—about an eyedropper full of red wine to 'circulate the arteries'."

Research suggests the average lifespan for a cat is around 11-12 years, depending on breed and circumstance, though many have been known to live to 20 years. 

The current champion for the world's oldest living cat is named Flossie, who lives in England and has spent time with the charity Cats Protection, which aims to rehome cats. Only by looking at her records did charity staff discover just how old she really was. "We were flabbergasted when we saw that Flossie's vet records showed her to be 27 years old," said Cats Protection's Branch Coordinator Naomi Rosling in 2022.

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Born on December 29, 1995, at the time of writing, she is 29 years, 5 months, and 6 days old.  

"I knew from the start that Flossie was a special cat, but I didn’t imagine I’d share my home with a world record holder," Flossie’s owner, Vicki, told Guinness World Records. Remarkably, both Vicki and Flossie were born in the same year.

Flossie has some competition, however. Leslie Greenhough, of Stockport, England, claimed to the BBC earlier this year that his pet Millie is in fact the oldest cat alive, having just celebrated her 30th birthday. Unfortunately, Leslie’s wife got Millie as a three-month-old kitten and has since passed away, meaning that Millie's age can't be verified – and so the fluffy feline can’t be awarded the Guinness World Record.