Guinness World Records and charity Cats Protection have recognised Flossie, 26, as the world’s oldest living cat.
Born in 1995, Flossie is the same age as her owner, Vicki, who adopted her from Cats Protection in 2022.
Previously, Flossie lived for three years with a man who took her in after her previous owners passed away, but he decided to entrust her to Cats Protection, as he could not tend to her needs.
Because most cat owners prefer adopting a much younger cat, Flossie seemed destined to stay with Cats Protection for the rest of her life.
However, she was lucky and before too long she found a match in Vicki, who has experience in caring for older cats.
Flossie and Vicki now live together in Orpington, southeast London.
Although poorly sighted and deaf, Flossie is still playful and loves cuddles and food.
“She never turns her nose up at the chance of a good meal,” Vicki says.
“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,” she adds.
“We were flabbergasted when we saw that Flossie’s vet records showed her to be 27 years old,” said Cats Protection’s Branch Co-ordinator Naomi Rosling upon finding out her age.
Turning 27 in a few weeks – which means that she will have lived for approximately 124 human years – Flossie is more than a decade younger than Creme Puff – the oldest cat ever, who lived to 38 with her owner Jake Perry in Austin, Texas.
Perry said that the secret behind Creme Puff’s longevity was her diet which consisted of dry cat food and broccoli, eggs, turkey bacon, coffee with cream, and—every two days—”an eyedropper full of red wine”.
