Owner of world's TRUE oldest cat didn't bother to apply to Guinness World Records

The true oldest domestic cat in the world (probably) has, according to a report in The Times today, just passed over the rainbow bridge at the age of 33. Her name was Rosie and she lived with her owner, Lila Brissett, in a ground floor flat. 

Lila Brissett and Rosie. Image: The Mirror newspaper.

Rosie turned 33 on June 1 this year which made her 152 years old in human terms. The interesting story for me about Rosie is that Guinness World Records sent Rosie's owner an application form to apply for the world's oldest cat but she never completed it. 🙄😃

Lila Brissett, a widower, said she was heartbroken about losing Rosie. She added that she misses her "so much". Lila says she never wanted to have Rosie euthanised and therefore Rosie died of natural causes. Lila said this about her death: "She wasn't very well and one day she just walked into the hallway of the house, laid it down and passed away."

She added that: "There were lots of good memories though and I'm happy we had our time together."

As you might expect in her old age Rosie became very particular and had a very set routine which was to eat and go to her favourite spot by the window where she would stay all day and sleep and snooze. She insisted on eating Purina One cat food. If she didn't get it she kicked up a fuss.

Lila was naturally concerned about Rosie's passing over the rainbow bridge because she had lived with her for 33 years and "She'll leave a big void".

Rosie was adopted as a shelter kitten from a rescue centre because the family who own Rosie had a cat allergy we are told.

She was approached by the rescue centre because she had previously rescued an abuse cat and dog from them.

Rosie's mother was a grey Ragdoll according to this report (The Times) who mated with a ginger tom. Rosie was a longhaired cat with a very fluffy coat.

The oldest domestic cat ever was called Creme Puff from Austin, Texas, USA. She was born in 1967 and died in August 2005 having lived an impressive 38 years and three days.

The story implies that the Guinness World Records reports of the oldest cat are not necessarily the true oldest cats because it does rely upon an application being made by the owner. There will probably be thousands of very old cats out there right now who could be in the Guinness World Records book but are not. The current oldest cat is 28 years old. Her name is Flossie. It's probably true that another cat somewhere is older than that.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

World's oldest pooch stripped of his title by Guinness World Records

Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, died last October at the reported age of 31 years and 165 days. The breed normally lives to around 12-14 years of age.

Bobi had been awarded the Guinness World Record's oldest dog ever title but now, after a dispute about his real age, Bobi has been stripped posthumously of his title.

Image of Bobi in the public domain. Overall image: MikeB.

Guinness World Records (GWR) said that the microchip which purportedly proved Bobi's age was not, in fact, sufficient proof for the dog to keep the award which his owner received in February last year.

Bobby lived on a farm in the village of Conqueiros in Portugal with his owner and four cats.

GWR said that it had not determined which dog was the new record holder. They also launched an investigation into Bobi last month after doubts about the reliability of the evidence which had been used to prove Bobi's record-breaking age.

GWR said:

"We are left with no evidence which can definitively prove Bobi's date of birth. Without any conclusive evidence available to us right now, we simply can't retain Bobi as the recordholder."

There's been no comment by Bobi's (former) owner after the stripping of his title. The owner, an unnamed man, had previously stated that suspicions about the true age of his pet were unfounded.

The owner had previously put his dog's longevity down to his laid-back lifestyle in the countryside of Portugal and the fact that he was only fed human food.

Wired magazine conducted an investigation and found that the dog's microchip had been registered only in 2022, a year before the dog had finally had his day i.e. had died.

His owner claimed the pooch was born in 1992. However, a database official had explained it had "no registration or data that can confirm or deny this statement."

Danny Chambers of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the UK told The Guardian newspaper that "not a single one" of his veterinarian colleagues believed that Bobi had actually lived to the age of 31.

The previous holder of the world's oldest dog was Australia's Bluey. Bluey died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

27-year-old woman adopted a rescue cat of the same age and becomes a record holder

The Guardian reports on an interesting story for me. I think that this story is actually unique in the world of cat adoption from a rescue centre. Vicki Green adopted Flossie from the well-known UK cat rescue charity Cats Protection in the summer of 2023. She adopted Flossie on the passing of her childhood cat, Honeybun, with whom she was very closely connected.

Vicki wanted to adopt another cat and had the opportunity when she finally purchased her own flat in London last summer. She wanted to adopt an older cat and a rescue cat. She achieved her objectives.

She was told by Cats Protection that Flossie was a 27-year-old tortoiseshell. She thought that the charity was mistaken and meant 17, but no, they meant 27 which is an extraordinary age for a domestic cat and particularly a rescue cat at a charity.

Flossie. Screenshot

At the time Vicki Green was 27 herself and so the cat world had that highly unusual situation where the adopter, a 27-year-old young woman, was the same age as the rescue cat that she was adopting.

Vicki thought that Flossie wouldn't live more than a few months but she wanted to give Flossie a good end-of-life experience which I think is very commendable. Some people like to do that and they play a valuable role in the cat rescue scene. It is altruistic. It is a very nice thing to do and there are in fact benefits for both the cat and the adopter although you have to deal with end-of-life issues which are tricky and distressing.

Flossie and Vicki. Screenshot.

Anyway, Flossie is still living and alert and very much alive. She likes to play and has her little routines like all domestic cats do. She's obviously a full-time indoor cat living in an apartment which probably suits her down to the ground at her age. She likes to go out onto the balcony which Vicki describes as Flossie's sanctuary.

She likes to jump onto Vicki's chest in the evening when she goes to bed and then she moves down to her lap and then finally settles down at her feet for the night. She wakes up at 6 o'clock looking for her breakfast with a loud and confident meow.

This is so typical of a domestic cat and one that is much younger than Flossie. Vicki bought her some stairs to get up onto the sofa but Flossie doesn't need them. And she says that "She doesn't look old at all."

"She never turns her nose up at the chance of a good meal," Vicki says.

 

She might make 30 and that would be very, very exceptional. It's nice to report on this unique story. Vicki believes that she owns the world's oldest living cat. She is absolutely correct because Flossie is recognised by Guinness World Records which has confirmed that she is the world's oldest living cat at the moment.

Details: The oldest cat living is Flossie (UK, b. 29 December 1995) who is 26 years and 316 days old, as verified in Orpington, UK, on 10 November 2022.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Cat holds the record for the number of skips over a rope!

This is a very peculiar Guinness Record. For the life of me I can't see the point of it. I know I'm being cynical and world-weary but this is really stretching things too far. That said, this cute, dilute ginger tabby, 13-year-old cat has been awarded a Guinness record for the most skips by a cat in one minute! The cat achieved nine.

Here is the video. 

You can see that the cat's owner rewards her cat every time he skips by putting down a pellet of dry cat food. That is after every single skip she rewards her cat with some food which limits the number of skips per 60 seconds. That wouldn't normally be needed if the cat was fully trained in my view. It seems that she has achieved this record with her cat during the training of her cat.

The whole thing is simply about reward-based training (positive reinforcement). There is nothing particularly clever about it although one has to praise the woman for at least making the effort to get into the Guinness World Records.

The cat's owner is Trish and she said: “By six months old Kit Kat was jumping rope in front of huge crowds of people at the farm, helping to bust myths that cats can’t be trained.”

Comment: I don't think that she is busting myths because you can train a cat to do more or less anything with sufficient patience.

I’ve never seen another cat work as hard and long as he does. He gives it his all no matter what he is doing! He purrs non-stop and loves to please others! - Trish

Trish runs a leading talent agency of animals and has been working as a professional animal trainer for years. I suspect that she wanted to promote her business which is fantastic and she achieved it by getting this record with her cat.

Her cat can do around 20 different tricks including giving high fives, waving, meowing on command and spinning. Trish says that jumping a rope is the most impressive trick that she has trained her cat to do.

I almost forgot; her cat's name is Kit Kat. Trish says that he loves to learn. Trish uses his favourite reward which is Tiki Cat Stix as it's sure to motivate him! He is the most affectionate cat Trish says and he is everyone's best friend.

The ultimate mature moggie is active and healthy at 27-years-of-age

This is Flossie, a dark tortoiseshell and a rescue cat who's 27 years old. She was adopted by Vicky from the Tunbridge Wells branch of Cats Protection in the UK. There are a couple of points to make.

Flossie a tortie cat aged 27. Image: screenshot from Cats Protection video.

Flossie is remarkably fit and well for 27. This is about ten years longer than the typical domestic cat's lifespan. 

Flossie was crowned the World’s Oldest Cat by the Guinness World Records last year! She was adopted as a mature moggy by Vicki from @CP_TwellsBranch and is doing well at 27 years old! #MatureMoggiesDay @GWR pic.twitter.com/rTQbEVt6t4

— Cats Protection (@CatsProtection) June 9, 2023

Despite being the Guinness World Record oldest living cat in the world, she is actually NOT the oldest living cat in the world as that accolade goes to Rosie, another tortoiseshell cat living in the UK as well, who's 32 years of age. A truly exceptional age for a domestic cat.

Rosie should be in Guinness's book instead of Flossie but she isn't because her owner has not made an application. This may change as Rosie has attracted a lot of attention recently. I should think Guinness World Records will try and contact her owner to put the record straight.

The video may not have a lifespan (excuse the pun) that is longer than this website which means that it may disappear from this page one day and if so, I am sorry. Or it may end up being a link to Twitter. Fine but not great.

Dark tortoiseshell, Flossie, is world's oldest living cat at nearly 27

Her name is Flossie. A good name. She is a very dark tortoiseshell domestic cat living in Orpington, near London (southwest) with Vicki Green and Guinness World Records have bestowed upon her the award of the world's oldest living cat as at today's date at 26 years and 330 days old. Here they are:

Vicki Green with her Guinness World Record holder of oldest domestic cat at nearly 27. Image: screenshot from Guinness video below.

Here is Flossie in closeup:

Flossie closeup. Image: screenshot from video.

Flossie is deaf and mostly blind. Ahh. I feel for her, but she is a beautiful companion for Ms Green. They get on well Vicki said. Flossie is only just a bit younger than Vicki. Flossie outlived her two previous owners!

RELATED: List of oldest living and deceased domestic cats but 2022 records are sketchy.

Flossie has beaten an American cat to the record. Corduroy was 26 years and 300 days old when she died on May 27, 2016.

Ms Green said:

"I knew from the start that Flossie was a special cat. But I didn't imagine I'd share my home with a Guinness World Records title holder. She's so affectionate and playful, especially sweet when you remember how old she is."

Here they are with the certificate:

The certificate, Vicki and Flossie. Screenshot.

And here is the YouTube video:

Some large dog breeds, by comparison, live to 7 years approximately. Flossie is 20 years older. She is amazing.

Will Powers is a celebrity seeker living vicariously through his Guinness World Record Savannah cat

OPINION ON THE NEWS: Dr. William John Powers of Farmington Hills, USA is all over the news and has been for about a month. There are endless numbers of pictures of him with his Guinness World Records titleholder as the world's tallest living domestic cat.

Fenrir and Powers. The Guinness World Records tallest domestic cand his owner. Image: Guinness World Records.

The accolade goes to Fenrir, a second filial Savannah cat measuring 18.83 inches to the shoulder on January 29, 2021.

I have a strong sense that this man, a Michigan physician and HIV specialist, is desperate for celebrity and he gets it vicariously through his cats.

I say 'cats' because four of Powers' cats have officially won the following Guinness World Records:

1. Altair Cygnus Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. His tail measures 16.07 inches.
2. Arcturus Aldebaran Powers – The Guinness World Records title holder for the tallest cat ever, and previously held the title for the tallest living domestic cat. He died in a fire in 2017.
3. Cygnus Regulus Powers – A silver Maine Coon who held the record for the longest tail on a living domestic cat. Cygnus also died in the 2017 fire. 

He always names his cats after him. More publicity seeking in my opinion.

Mr Powers story is rather remarkable because two of his previous record holders as you can note above died in a fire.

But what is apparent is that he is constantly chasing records. I think he does this because he knows he will achieve celebrity. And I don't like it. There is something wrong with the man.

There is an absurd obsession by humankind in chasing cat records. What is the point of this record? It is the tallest domestic cat from the ground to the shoulder. Does that really mean anything?

It just means that the cat has long legs! Unsurprising as the wild cat ancestor of the Savannah cat is the serval which has the longest legs to body size of all cats. 

It doesn't mean that Fenrir is the biggest domestic cat. There are some extraordinary Maine Coon cats which are bigger than this Savannah cat.

This particular Guinness World Record is, as I have suggested almost meaningless, but Mr Powers has latched onto it, perhaps realising that it is a rather artificial award but nonetheless gone for it and achieved the result he wanted.

In an earlier post I suggested, tentatively, that Fenrir was a little bit overweight. He seems to have fixed that problem but in a recent interview he states that Fenrir is "ravenously" hungry. This has put pressure on Mr Powers to limit his cat's diet because he was getting too big.

It seems, therefore, that I was correct in my assessment. However, in more recent photographs it appears that he has lost some weight.

It is nearly always Savannah cats which achieve this particular award. The most famous Savannah cat to achieve it was Magic. I made a video about this cat. Actually, I made more than one video. She was a female. I don't know whether she still alive.

She was an F1 Savannah cat. Fenrir is an F2 Savannah cat which means second generation from the wild. Normally F1s are larger than F2s but clearly that is not always the case.

As I recall, Guinness World Records did away with the world's fattest cat because it encouraged people to overfeed their cats and make them unhealthily fat.

I personally don't think Guinness should be involved with world records for domestic cats. I'm being a grumpy old man, but it tends to encourage human behaviour which is not really desirable.

What is the largest litter of kittens?

This is a Guinness World Record for the largest litter of kittens born to a domestic cat. It happened in Kingham, Oxfordshire, UK on August 7, 1970. A Burmese/Siamese hybrid owned by V. Gane gave birth to 19 kittens. Four were stillborn. That is all we know. Technically it is possible that a larger but unreported litter has been born but we'll never know.

Burmese kitten. This kitten has nothing to do with the record. This charmer is here to illustrate the page, no more. Photo: Pinterest.

A female domestic cat can give birth to anywhere between 1 and 10 kittens normally. The 19 of the record is, on the face of it, unique. An average litter consists of 4 or 5 kittens.

Mel and Fiona Sunquist in their excellent book Wild Cats of the World state that the record is 13 kittens. I am afraid they were incorrect. Their book was published in 2002. 

New-born kittens weigh about 90-110 grams at birth. This is 3 percent of their mother's body weight.

Normally the weights of individual kittens declines as the litter size increases.

Kittens are born with their eyes closed. Very rarely kittens are born with teeth. Usually they are born without teeth. They have poor hearing but a good sense of smell and touch as they are able, within an hour of birth, to find 'their' nipple and begin feeding. They return to their dedicated nipple which avoids arguments. Brilliant system to create calm and better feeding.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: 12 facts about the domestic cat purr

The kittens purr to their mother while feeding to say all is well. The mother responds likewise. It is their first purr signifying contentment. Many more will come in a good home.

Some Cat Guinness World Records

As it happens I have some pages about cat Guinness World Records on my website so I'll add one more. Why not. Not that anyone really cares or will want to read it! An existing one is the world's tallest pet cat or I think she is now world's biggest pet cat - not completely sure. All I know is that she is a magnificent domestic cat, extremely special, very friendly and very large. But she is a domestic cat, make no mistake about it. She looks like a medium sized wild cat but she is not. Some people think she is. Wrong, sorry.

Pete

Guinness World Records have stopped recording the world's smallest cat because it promoted bad breeding practices. One such record holder was Pete (see pic. next to a cigarette packet).

I am also pretty sure that they don't do the world's heaviest domestic cat for similar reasons. People will tend to overfeed a large cat to win the prize. This is not something that Guinness World Records want to promote as it is bad for business.

Here she is, the world's biggest domestic cat, "Magic", playing with Andreas, the son of Marti and Kathrin Stucki who raised them both:



Then we have the world's fattest cat. This is a cat I have not met. I wrote on this subject and so did a colleague of mine Finn Frode.

Here are the two articles:

Fattest Cat in the World

Clauz - World's Fattest Cat 1950

Then we have the world's longest cat, which is a Maine Coon. Maine Coons are more long than big although they are the biggest non-wildcat hybrid domestic cat breed in the world and the biggest registered by the Cat Fanciers' Asscociation (CFA), the best known cat association in the world.

To these landmark events we can now add the world's loudest cat! He is Smokey and I am glad to say that he is British and he is a silver mackerel tabby moggie (random bred).  In fact he looks like a silver smoke tabby. His voice is louder that a Boeing 737 landing. I presume this is at max volume! On his website he is seen next to a decibel meter that shows 90.6 decibels. Apparently he purred at 67.7 decibels for the Guinness World Record.

Here he is:



He has a nice rather high pitched purr. It doesn't sound that intrusive but it is noticeable louder than any purr I have heard.



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