Conference misery::feline

    I had a cat named "Daffy" that lived to be 21 people years old.  I
    finally had to put her down as she was half blind, couldn't really get
    around that well, that is she couldn't jump up on the bed, etc., so of
    course I put a little step stool by the bed for her.  Then she started
    having seizures.  I stayed with her, comforting her while they put her
    down, and it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  But I
    thought that if she could give me 21 really terrific years, the least I
    could do is give her a few more seconds of my time.
    
    I also had a cat, "Fleaby" that lived to be 18 people years old.  All
    of the cats I have ever had have been "just cats", no pure breds, but
    all were great cats and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
    
    I'm sure someone out there has a cat that lived longer than mine, but I
    though 21 was a ripe old age for a kitty.
    
    Marilyn

My understanding is that the record of Oldest Cat is 36 years.  But that was
20 years ago, so it may have changed.

    I have a white Persian named Gloria (I recently had a note about her)
    who has been deaf all her life.  She's been healthy and had her 16th
    birthday on September 24th.  In her old age she is having a few
    problems, but testing has shown that they are just old age symptoms. 
    I've been told that 16 is a pretty old age for a Persian.  I know that
    there are cats who live much longer than 16, but think that her age is
    pretty good for the breed.  She doesn't show any signs of fading, so
    who knows ... she could be with me another year or two!
    
    Donna
    

    
    My old guy Merlin turned 20 last July.  He's deaf now, his sense of
    smell seems a bit off, and his eyes are just a bit cloudy; he's a tad
    arthritic, sometimes he seems a mite confused, and he's not quite as
    fanatically fastidious in his grooming as he once was.  But he's still
    able to jump up onto and down from the counters, and he doesn't take
    any guff from the youngsters.  He's a retired cat, has paid his dues,
    and is living on his well earned pension.
    
    He could die tonight in his sleep, and I wouldn't be surprised (though
    I would be enormously saddened).  He could live another few years and
    I wouldn't be surprised (though I would be enormously pleased).  Every
    additional day with him is a gift I treasure. 
    
    len.
    

    
    Do certain breeds live longer than others? 
    
    I have a Siamese who will be 12 in the April. He is big 
    for a Siamese, weighs in about 14 lbs (not overweight, just big). 
    He is definitely showing some age - much slower, needs a pillow
    to lay down (even on thick carpet) else he gets stiff, doesn't
    like stairs, sense of smell isn't that keen anymore. He has a clean 
    bill of health from the vet. But I am saddened to watch him grow old.
    
    
    Eva
    

	Sabrina, my Tonkinese is 16 1/2 this week!  Her eyes are also a little
	cloundy and she has a bit of trouble jumping on the bed sometimes, takes
	the stairs slower than before.  She also gets incredible spurts of
	energy and will still play (almost) like a kitten!

	Laura

    Boots was 20 when she left us, one night here at home.
    She was not the most loving of animals, only when it suited her but she
    could wind both Syd and I around her little finger anytime.
    If she wanted something we jumped.
    Both the dogs we had defered to her, she drove them wild trying to
    please her.
    She also had a soft spot for any other small animal brought into the
    house, she slept with and looked after, hampsters, mice, spiders and
    birds.
    Boots was a Tabby I brought home from work when the company decided
    they would start to use a exterminators instead of cats to keep the
    vermin population down in the building I worked in.
    I have no idea what her family tree was but she was a pleasure to have
    around the house.
    
    And we still miss her funny little ways, in spite of the fact that we
    now have Bits, who is not like her all in temperament but looks so much
    like her.                                   
    
    joan

    Regarding Gloria...
    
    After 16 years, you must be very attached to her.  I read somewhere
    that pets can actually reduce stress in people.  Who knows, with less
    stress, we may live longer!
    
    Live long and prosper Gloria.
    
    Marilyn

    Our Sherry was with us for 25 years.  He was at least 4 years old when
    he decided he'd had enough of the single life and adopted my roommate
    in the parking lot of the apartment complex.  The vets said he could
    have been anywhere from 4 to 8 years old at that time.  That would put
    him at a minimum of 29, but since it's an estimate we just ignore it
    and call him 25.  Sherry was a maine coon (we think). 
    
    We still miss the old guy - he had such personality.
    Dana 

    I have a Siamese who is 18.  He is very, very healthy, has all his
    teeth and is still very active.  I "saved" him from an abusive
    situation in 1978 when he was @ one year old.  I had another Siamese
    at the time who had been in the house about 6 months.  Until the
    first died three years ago, Pyewacket was definitely the "underdog"
    (undercat??).  After Mao's death a whole new personality came out in
    Pyewacket - he talked more, wanted more affection and just generally
    entertains us more.   I wish he had 18 more years!!
    
    My sister had a female Siamese who lived to be about 20 - she was
    very feeble the last year or so of her life and only wanted to sleep
    on the warm clothes dryer in the laundry room.  Because this was
    difficult for her to reach, my sister carpeted a plank and made a
    kitty "wheelchair ramp" for her to climb up on the dryer on.  It
    was pretty cute!

    JFCL is almost 18.  She's your basic all-American shorthair cat, white
    with black spots, and I paid $5 for her (including all her shots, etc.)
    at a pet store when she was a kitten.  She's a good cat.  Her sense of
    smell isn't what it used to be, and she has gotten pretty thin (she
    used to be rather tubby) and has occasional arthritis problems in her
    hind legs.  Her Siamese companion, Nebula, died at age 16 (of a brain
    tumor, poor kitty), and JFCL was very despondent.  She has adapted
    pretty well to her new companion, Melody the Maine coon kitten, though
    Melody is bit more rambunctious than JFCL would really prefer.  She
    especially does not like being pounced on when she is napping.  JFCL's
    favorite activity (after eating) is to hop (gingerly, these days) onto
    the sofa next to whatever human happens to be sitting there reading the
    newspaper, curl up on the unread papers (she can tell which pieces
    you've finished with), stick out all for legs so that she is touching
    the human, and purr loudly.  She gets huffy when you move her to get at
    the rest of the newspaper!  She's a great kitty, and I hope she is
    around for several more good years.
    
    /Charlotte                  

    My husbands childhood pet lived to be 21 years old!  She was a 
    beautiful Siamese who was both indoor and outdoor.  They (my
    father in law) recently had to put her to sleep because she stopped
    eating, using the litter box and was barely able to walk any more.
    
    I hope my kitties live this long, although they have a way to go,
    they're only 5 and 1.5.
    
    - Lauri
    

    Well, I'll add Abby to the list.  Abby is 20 years old - got him at the
    end of September 1975 so I guess his birthday is someday in August.  
    He's sort of long-haired grey and white cat who is an ornery old guy 
    with arthritis is his back legs but still manages to hop on my son's 
    bed and claim it as his.  Even though he's missing teeth he doesn't 
    miss a meal.  He has a "friend" now...Vinnie,  who I rescued a year 
    ago October when he was a blue-eye kitten running around the street.  
    At first Abby hated (with a vengence) Vinnie, but now the old guy seems 
    to like him.  Would not have believed that they'd ever get along.  
    Abby stills likes to go out but at least its only for
    a few minutes at a time now.  I notice he uses the litter box more than
    asking to go out - course it's getting cold now so he is very content
    to sit at the back door and look out at the world.  
    
    Faith
     

    When I worked for a small animal vet a few years back, we had a Siamese
    patient who was 28, and in pretty good shape considering.  He was still
    around when I moved on to different employment, so I have no idea how
    long he continued on.
    

	I love reading these stories about all these old cats...great topic!

	I have read that Siamese have among the longest lifespans of the
	different cat breeds, alot of these entries seem to support that.

	Laura    

    
    
    >I have read that Siamese have among the longest lifespans of the
    >different cat breeds, alot of these entries seem to support that.
    
    I am so relieved. 
    
    Eva

    
    Though Merlin looks more like a Russian Blue (all grey coat, green
    eyes), I was told that his mom was Siamese, and his dad walked out of
    the woods at an opportune time...
    
    len.
    

    Albert lived till he was 15. He gave us 15 good years. He hardly beat
    some of the records in this notesfile, but 15 was respectable I think.
    
    Jeff

    Well, Jimmy is going to be 18 in the spring (He can't wait to register
    to vote). He became diabetic abotu 2 years ago, and since he went on
    insulin, he struts around like a much younger cat. He has mellowed a
    lot over the last few years.
    
    And then there is Princess Zoe. She is 15 and rules her harem with an
    iron paw (Zoe is my only female; my other 8 are all boys)
    
    I have several 10+ years olds ...
    
    Deb

    
    Cyrus, he was 15+ when I lost him.  He was abandoned and then later
    I found out some awfull horrible things that some little punk kids
    did to him.  I can't possibly immagine this and it kills me to even
    think about it, and those kids, I would like to beat them sensless.
    Sorry, if some think that is harsh but so is life.
    

    My Abigail was a DSH white female who was deaf from birth (as was her
    mother).  Abigail lived to be 21!  And she was an indoor/outdoor cat
    for many years, until her kidneys started to fail and she was on fluid
    therapy.  But she was never in pain and when she did go, she went
    peacefully.

    
    My oldest cat is 17.  I call him a retired senior catizen.  He no
    longer plays or wants to go outside for very long.  He goes outside for
    urinary reasons and to make sure there are no cats near his door, or his
    stairs, or his windows, or my car, etc.
    
    Many moons ago when I lived in Ayer, Mass. Norman adopted me.  The
    family who had recently moved from the apartment I was moving into
    abandoned him.  My landlord strictly said "no pets" to me up front
    before I moved in.  But what was I to do?  Norman constantly appeared
    at my back door because where I now lived was where he had lived.  He
    was willing to share my new apartment with me but he wasn't going
    anywhere either.  
    
    Several times when my landlord showed up for the rent Norman would
    casually appear at my back door.  The landlord knew Norman was forsaken
    by the previous tenants and he probably suspected I was feeding him.
    All right, he said,  you can keep him, but don't let him in the front
    hallways!
    
    That was 15 years ago!  Now I have four cats and I love each one of
    them.  Norman tolerates the three but he was first and he never allows
    anyone to forget!  Even me!
    
    Nancy 

    Back when I was in high school my best friend had bunches of cats.
    Miss Mitten was the mom of most of the cats they had.  Last year I 
    went back for my 21 year reunion (we were too slow to plan in time 
    for 20 yr) and while there I visited her parents house.  Miss Mitten 
    was still there.  She was 22 years old then.  She had outlived all of 
    her kittens.  Another year has passed since then and I haven't been 
    able to bring myself to ask if she's still there.  I'm afraid they'll
    tell me she finally passed on.
    
    Jan
    
    (Just as a note, Miss Mitten was/is an all black cat, not a single mitten
     on her anywhere. :^) 
    
    

    But was she a polydactyl? (Often, these cats get called "MIttens"
    because of thier front paws.)
    
    Deb

    I don't think she was polydactyl.  I don't remember any of my 
    friend's cats having extra toes.  But, this was ages ago so I 
    could be wrong.  I was very allergic to cats then and not yet 
    a cat convert so I didn't spend tons of time checking them out.  
    It was the usual situation; I was allergic and stand-offish with 
    them so they spent all their time trying to get my attention while 
    I was visiting.  Silly kittens.  It would be interesting to go back
    in time with the way I feel about cats now and get to know them
    all over again.
    
    Jan
            

    One of my old co-workers brothers had a Calico named Valentine who
    lived to be 23.  She didn't do much but nap the last couple of years of
    her long life, but Hal's brother sure was crazy about her - he'd had
    her since he was a little kid, of course.  I never met Valentine - she
    must have been quite a kitty!
    
    /Charlotte

    
    	re: "Miss Mitten" - years ago I was in a relationship and we 
    	decided to get a kitten.  We let her 3 year old daughter
    	name her and she chose "Mitten".
    
    	One day, we were sitting in the kitchen and her daughter was
    	in the living room and she scolded the little kitten by
    	saying...
    
    
    
    
    	Bad Mitten !!  
    
    	Gawd, did we laugh...
    
    	Tom
    

    JFCL did something unusual for a kitty of her age and dignity level
    last night: she jumped on the kitchen table!  I guess she has been
    watching her kitten companion do this (and get yelled at and removed)
    and decided to "break training" herself and do it too!  She got yelled
    at and removed too, but I have to admit that I was impressed that she
    can still get into mischief when she wants to, at her age.  Normally
    she is an unusually well-behaved kitty who knows at least not to GET
    CAUGHT doing things that she is not supposed to be doing!
    
    /Charlotte

    
    I have 4 old cats.  Chammie & Sheba are both 13, Carmel is 12 and
    Nephra is 10.  They are all from buddy dog animal shelter and they are
    all outdoor cats.  Chammie is kind of a lynx point mix, Sheba is a Tort
    Chamel is a Calico and Nephra is solid white w/blue deep blue eyes and
    no she is not deaf.
    
    *nit* I hate it when every assumes that all white cats w/blue eys are
    deaf - it bugs me  :-)
    
    lkp

    My friends have a 20-yr. old female Siamese, Delilah.  She is grey with
    blue eyes and is having difficulty hopping on their waterbed, so
    they've placed a small, two-tiered cat-house next to the head of the
    bed so she can get up and down easily.  Other than that, she is still
    eating well, using the litterbox, no problems seeing.  Delilah's
    sister, Menizah, died last yr. at 19 of cancer.  They bought a little
    Tonkinese a yr. ago December at the cat show in Boxborough...for the
    first few months, Delilah would have nothing to do with her....now
    they're best buddies - 'cause they're restricted to a smaller area
    because of new 6-week old twins: a boy and a girl! 
    
    Eloise 

    There was a 32 year old kitty on the news this morning.  The announcer
    said in two more years she'd match the record for the longest living
    cat.
    

    Have you seen Cat Fancy for this month yet?  The results of their
    oldest cat area in and they have pictures.  The oldest one they had
    was 31 I believe.  I wonder if it's the same cat and if maybe he's
    had another birthday since the contest started.
    
    Jan

    are you talking about Granpa, the Spinx/Rex combo? In his own way, he
    is kind of cute :-)
    
    Deb

    The one I saw on the news was a combo cat, hairless type plus
    something. Maybe grandpa, I may have mis-heard the gender.
    

    Granpa is the one I was thinking of.  He's part Rex and part Sphinx.
    His age is confirmed at 26 but estimated to be as old as 31.  He
    was adopted from an animal shelter in 1970.  There's a really nice
    picture and write up on him in the March 1997 Cat Fancy.
    
    Jan

    Wow!  JFCL is getting pretty creaky as she approaches her 19th birthday
    this month - not sure how much longer I will be able to enjoy the
    company of this fine beast.  Her digestive system and kidneys are
    starting to go (she's not real crazy about the special kidney diet
    food, but she's willing to eat the dry variety of it - the canned stuff
    is definitely not up to her standards), and her hind legs are getting
    arthritic, but she can still purr with the best of them.  I sort of
    wish she would teach her young coon kitten companion to purr (-
    actually, Melody *does* purr, but she's below my hearing range.  I can
    only tell that the kitten is purring if she is sitting on me so I can
    feel her body vibrating!).
    
    /Charlotte

    Check out http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/06/fringe/oldest.cat/index.html
    It has some QuickTime movies that you can down load, but I don't have
    a viewer here at work (and I doubt that I can down load one for DIGITAL
    UNIX)
    
    
    It is the Granpa Rexs Allen from Cat Fancy, but CNN mispelt his name.
    
    Deb

    Wow-Thats awesome ! 
    
    Charlotte- so many fun years with your baby! Thats great !
    I hope Im as lucky...
    
    SueJ

    
    I was heartened when I saw all those mature kitties in the magazine
    which my daughter got a subscription as a bday present - quite a
    few siamese kitties in there. I hope that this big blue pt kitty
    boy we have will be as fortunate - he'll be 13 in a month or so.
    Toothless, but looking good right now ;-).
    
    
    Eva