Can or have you ever beaten this?

[Doyle]

Our cat, Mary, just turned 17.

She spends about 95% of her life on our bed and the rest is to eat and go to the litter box, but seems still to be in good health. BTW, she hasn't been to the vet in probably 14 years.

Anybody else got some old timers?

[AuntiePam]

My daughter's cat made it to 20, almost 21, with just early vet visits for the required shots and neutering. He finally succumbed to kidney failure.

Daughter asked the vet if regular visits would have prevented this and the vet said no. Her vet is of the mind that indoor cats don't need the stress of vet visits unless the cat is showing signs of distress. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Ya know, most adult indoor cats do just what yours does -- eat, poop, sleep.

[Solfy]

Oliver was a couple months shy of 19 when we said goodbye to him last year. He went to the vet for vaccinations. We passed on the $300 "elderly cat blood workup" that would "tell us if he should be on any pre$criptions" that the vet's office started pushing when he was 9. Then we switched vets.
He was mildly arthritic and mostly senile, having to spend most of his last couple years in the basement with Lucy because he wouldn't quit pissing everywhere. He still enjoyed lying in the sun on the kitchen porch when he could. When he couldn't enjoy that anymore, we let him go.

[Helena]

I had a kidney kitty that made it to 21. I have to respectfully disagree with not taking an older cat to the vet. My cat's kidney failure was found early and I was able to have her five more years just with diet change. There's a test now that can find it even earlier. Diabetes can be managed if found early. So can heart issues. My seniors go twice a year for blood work. They get over the shock pretty fast. I don't vaccinate them past about 14, however.

[PSXer]

I think I can beat that

I spend more than 95% of my life lying in bed only leaving to eat and shit

[Dragonlady]

Ive only had Bones for about 4 years, but the vet estimated that she was 17 when I got her from a rescue. She had been starved so close to death, that she couldn't walk and had a huge abscess on her face. Someone had found her and brought her to the rescue, where they weren't sure she could be saved. She never leaves my room except to cross the hall to the bathroom containing her litter box.
Her last vet visit was about 3 years ago, and it was so stressful for her that the vet told me it was best not to bring her again unless she appeared to be in distress.

[stormie]

My sister had her oldest cat for 18? 19? years. She (the cat) developed some interesting, even undesirable, habits - like peeing where-ever, but was a happy kitty until she died on my sister's chest. Good kitty.

[wring]

Most of my kitties lasted longer - Mei-tu was 17, Moki was 18 (both Siamese that I had when I was a kid), Mouse was 20, Spike was 20. Currently have two who are both about 7. Sadly, our best kitty evah, Matt Russell (pictured in my avatar) died early at age 7.

[Solfy]

We got Lucy when Oliver was 7 with the intention of not being cat-less (also we needed a mouser). She was indeed a good mouser, but she died a few months before him.

Maggie's favorite places to hang out are all the places they used to be, especially the basement steps. I assume this is because of cat pheromones. Sometimes it makes me wonder if she needs a buddy. It doesn't help that there's a new stray litter in Eldest's boyfriend's yard . . .

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by helena330

I had a kidney kitty that made it to 21. I have to respectfully disagree with not taking an older cat to the vet. My cat's kidney failure was found early and I was able to have her five more years just with diet change. There's a test now that can find it even earlier. Diabetes can be managed if found early. So can heart issues. My seniors go twice a year for blood work. They get over the shock pretty fast. I don't vaccinate them past about 14, however.

Thanks for this. I will pass this on to my daughter. She's had another cat now for over a year, and was dragging her heels on taking her in for vax and spaying. She just managed to get that done last week. I'd been nagging her to do it for months, but I finally gave up, decided to let her get there on her own (or what she'd think was her own).

My daughter is weird about some things. She had problems with going to both the local vets, one because she was the vet who diagnosed late Kitty's kidney failure, and the other because she was the one who gave the second opinion (there's no hope) and who performed the euthanasia.

I don't know if she'll listen or not, but I'll try. It just might be that the vet who said not to bother with annual visits was just trying to make her feel better. Daughter had asked if it would have made a difference.

[Rat Diva]

My fuzzmonster is 15. His hips are bad so he doesn't get around too well, and he mostly does the eat/sleep/poop thing. However, he still likes to take a stroll around the back yard (fenced, and I watch him while he's out) and lay in the sun (getting up and moving as the sun moves) and getting scroomfles, and he still waits for me to come home from work every day.

He does pee on the carpets sometimes, but he has trouble hopping in and out of the litter box so I think it's a matter of convenience more than anything.

[C2H5OH]

When I was a kid, our cat had kittens and we gave one to a friend. She lived to be 24. Her sister, who we kept only lived to one month short of 18. Although there's no way to know, now, reading a list of record cat ages online a couple years ago I found out that there was a good chance she was the oldest living cat at the time of her death, and would have had the official record if there had been a way to document her age and submit it to whoever kept those records.

[kayaker]

My gf's horse, Mac, was put down two years ago at the advanced age of 30. He was a solid ride right to the end.

[Guinastasia]

Piper's going to be 17 in September, god willing. I think a trip to the vet would probably traumatize her, as she's so freaking neurotic. Basically, she spends most of her days hanging out in the living room, and she's uber attached to my mother. Other than that, she's good.

My previous record for a cat was the one I had growing up, Fluffy. She was 16 when she died.

[Doyle]

Originally Posted by Doyle

Our cat, Mary, just turned 17.

She spends about 95% of her life on our bed and the rest is to eat and go to the litter box, but seems still to be in good health. BTW, she hasn't been to the vet in probably 14 years.

Anybody else got some old timers?

Turned 18 and doing great.

[fucktard loser]

Originally Posted by PSXer

I think I can beat that

I spend more than 95% of my life lying in bed only leaving to eat and shit

now don’t go bragging we know the last half of your statement is only true on your good days

[Dragonlady]

I recently lost my cat. Bones was found starving and with a huge abscess on her face. The rescue did not expect her to survive. They managed it, and I adopted her about 3 weeks after she was found. The rescue and my vet agreed that she was 16-17 years old. I had her for another 4 years.

[thorny locust]

Lost one in September at 17, and her brother the year before at 16. Both of those as well as a couple in the list below would have died two or three years sooner if not for thyroid medications -- one very small pill twice daily, not very expensive: result, an otherwise-dying cat who instead has no idea that they're even ill. So strongly concurring on taking older cats to the vet. if they're starting to fade, in case it's something of that sort; though I agree that if not it can make sense to stop taking them -- with concurrence from the vet. my 20+ cat below didn't go in for his last couple of years.

Previous old cats: one at 18, if I remember right; one at 19 years 5 months; one exact age unknown but almost certainly significantly over 20; another from my childhood who also was over 20 but we couldn't find out exact age -- she'd been a barn cat and my parents traced her to the people who had the place before the people who they bought it from. And another couple at 16 to 17. I tend to think of any feline death younger than 16 as premature and of 16 as on the early side. And they've generally seemed comfortable and at least somewhat active up to very close to the end.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by Dragonlady

I recently lost my cat. Bones was found starving and with a huge abscess on her face. The rescue did not expect her to survive. They managed it, and I adopted her about 3 weeks after she was found. The rescue and my vet agreed that she was 16-17 years old. I had her for another 4 years.

a special blessing to all who adopt senior animals

[Inna Minnit]

My roommate had a kitty who made it to 22. She passed about 3 years ago. Our current kitty is 2 ish.

[Dazzling White Diamonds]

My first cat (as an adult) lived to be 21. I watched her come into the world, and I was there when she left. She was wonderful.

[Helena]

Originally Posted by Doyle

Turned 18 and doing great.

That's wonderful to hear!!

[TheChileanBlob]

My childhood cat lived to be 16 or 17. My current assholes are 13, 13, 4, and 3.