How old have your cats lived?

[Mallory]

I had a cat like that once. My mom volunteered at a shelter and brought home a four week old orphan who was about to be euthanized since he hadn't been weaned. He was so small I could carry him in my shirt pocket. After about four weeks of feeding him every four hours with an eyedropper I finally got him on solid food. We bonded very strongly during that time and he was my constant companion for the next 20 years.

He passed away during the night two decades later sleeping between my ankles.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I had a cat like that once. My mom volunteered at a shelter and brought home a four week old orphan who was about to be euthanized since he hadn't been weaned. He was so small I could carry him in my shirt pocket. After about four weeks of feeding him every four hours with an eyedropper I finally got him on solid food. We bonded very strongly during that time and he was my constant companion for the next 20 years.

He passed away during the night two decades later sleeping between my ankles.

I'm glad you were able to form such a strong bond with him, and that it lasted that long. I know from my grandmother's experience just how painful it can be when they finally leave you.

 

[bigdaddy]

I had a cat like that once. My mom volunteered at a shelter and brought home a four week old orphan who was about to be euthanized since he hadn't been weaned. He was so small I could carry him in my shirt pocket. After about four weeks of feeding him every four hours with an eyedropper I finally got him on solid food. We bonded very strongly during that time and he was my constant companion for the next 20 years.

He passed away during the night two decades later sleeping between my ankles.

I was hoping that's what my cat would do, but she just kept breathing.

 

[Kirby]

I had to vote for 'Cat's suck' but I don't really believe that. I am horribly allergic to cats. When I was a little kid we had one for a few weeks, but both my mom and I had bad reactions to it. itchy, sinus problems, I even had problems breathing. Later in college, someone was giving away kittens in front of a grocery store, and I figured I would try again, and he lasted about a month before I couldn't take it anymore. My reactions weren't as bad as the first time, and I was hoping I could get over the allergies after a 'break-in' phase, but no luck. I gave 'Moe' to a friend of mine and I believe he lived to be about 15.
That said, I have a Dachshund who is 11. And he is awesome!

 

[RJDiogenes]

My condolences on the death of your Pet, bigdaddy. I know how hard that is. RIP, Whiskers.




(As an aside, just so everyone knows, seven months is too long a time to bump a Thread; but I'm letting this one go for obvious reasons.)

 

[bigdaddy]

Thanks everyone.

I'm just glad I was there when she died, I didn't want her to die alone.

 

[Kelso]

That's tough. We went through the same thing this year.

Back in 1987, my parents bought us a kitten- I was in first grade and my sister was in kindergarten- that died earlier this year at nearly 22 years of age. Needless to say, that cat was part of the family.

 

[Geckothan]

My cats are still alive (6.5 years old) so I haven't voted, but I know people who have had cats that lived to over 20.

 

[freak]

Our first cat, fat cat I called her lived until she was seven or eight years old. She was going into renal failure and was unable to eat or drink. It killed me to put her to sleep.
Our cat now, buttercup is about 11 years old and is now great health. He used to weight about 27-29 lbs(huge fat ass cat!) and now weighs close around 7-10lbs. He's lost triple his body weight but still thinks he is fat cause he's constantly meowing for food and getting into the cabinets! He's a smart ole puss!

 

[freak]

I had to vote for 'Cat's suck' but I don't really believe that. I am horribly allergic to cats. When I was a little kid we had one for a few weeks, but both my mom and I had bad reactions to it. itchy, sinus problems, I even had problems breathing. Later in college, someone was giving away kittens in front of a grocery store, and I figured I would try again, and he lasted about a month before I couldn't take it anymore. My reactions weren't as bad as the first time, and I was hoping I could get over the allergies after a 'break-in' phase, but no luck. I gave 'Moe' to a friend of mine and I believe he lived to be about 15.
That said, I have a Dachshund who is 11. And he is awesome!

Well, I'm glad you at least gave it another try. Some people don't even do that! I do understand that being allergic to cats is serious but sometimes I get angry at people for saying that they are allergic to cats like they have a disease.(don't worry..you're not one of those characters! ) I'll give an example-there was this girl at my college who was from Central America and was really allergic to cats. I was visiting with her one day and she was telling me in no uncertain words that she dispised cats and was highly allergic to them and takes off running if a cat or kitten wants to play with her. At this I got a little angry because I felt she was using her "being allergic to cats" as a stupid excuse to get attention. The reason she was acting the way she was acting was because of our ARD. And our ARD had cats in his apartment downstairs and they were always popping out of his place and wanting to rub up against people. I went to his place to visit one day about something that was going on in the dorms that I didn't really like and his cats came out and started rubbing up against me. I went down on the ground and started petting them. He said something like: I'm glad to know that you're not allergic to cats..seems they like you quite well. I told him that I don't like people who don't like cats.
I also have a longtime family friend who thinks that cats are the devil's reincarnate and therefore REFUSES to even SET FOOT in a room that even HAS a cat!

 

[NCC-1701-B]

ok, so i have a kitten named bertie who is 17 weeks old, a big boy called Bob who is 8yrs old.

But Kitty, she was 24 and still going strong, really healthy and she got run over. How effing typical.

 

[Amaris]

Now see, I feel bad. I ran over a cat this evening, and it was completely by accident and there was nothing I could do. It was dark, and while I was only doing 23 (25 mph zone, too), this cat darted right out in front and I just heard this *thump* and my heart just dropped. Since my house was only another 100 feet away, I pulled in, got out and looked around the car. Not seeing anything I walked toward the area where I had hit the cat, and didn't see anything. So I don't know if I grazed him or if I hit him full on.

I feel terrible but at the same time very angry, because people don't take care of their pets. That cat should not have been outdoors roaming the streets at night where it could be hit. Now I feel so terrible, because I am an animal lover and it just breaks my heart. I'll be thinking about this all night.

J.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Sorry to hear that, J. Hopefully, the cat is okay. Not finding him is a good sign.

A similar thing happened to me a few years ago. I was driving along in Weymouth, and a cat ran out from the left right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and saw him go under my car and then run out and into the woods on the right. I still don't know if he got hurt or not.

There's really nothing you can do about this sort of thing. Cats go where they go, and I don't think it's right to keep them locked up all the time.

 

[Lonemagpie]

My first cat went at 13. Our only male went about six weeks before his 16th birthday. Our current oldest celebrated her 16th birthday yesterday... We also have two 10-year-olds, and one 9-months.

The record for our street is one who died over the summer at age 24.

The official world record holder according to Guinness was 38 (he died in 2005, the current official world's oldest living cat is 36), and there are occasional unconfirmed claims of 40 year-olds.