Nutmeg the cat was found as a stray over 26 years ago and now he’s in the running for the Guinness World Record title of World’s Oldest Cat!
26 years ago, Liz and Ian Finlay’s cat Spice befriended a tabby cat on the streets, he was definitely a stray so the couple decided to adopt him into their family. They had no idea how old he was but when they took him to the vets for a check over they were told he was around 5 years old, which makes Nutmeg an incredible 31 years old! Liz and Ian decided to contact the Guinness World Records and together they are they are trying to verify his age. As he is a rescue cat there is no sure way to tell exactly when he was born but they do have a pretty good idea.
It has been said that if they could confirm that Nutmeg was “an adult” at the time of his first vet visit, meaning he was at least 2 years old, he’d still be an impressive 28 years old, and could still earn the title of World’s Oldest Cat. The current record holder is 27-year-old Corduroy, who regained the title when 30-year-old Scooter passed away shortly after claiming it. The Oldest Cat Ever is still Creme Puff, who lived an astounding 38 years.
“We have loved him and taken care of him ever since adopting him. He only has three teeth left but he loves chicken so much he stands at the fridge door when he wants to be fed,” Liz and Ian explained. “He comes and lies on your knee when it is time to go to bed. He is not our cat, we are his humans and he never lets us forget that. Maybe that is the secret to his long and happy life.”
“He is spoilt rotten. He comes in every morning at five am from his bed next door and we get up and feed him. Then he goes back to bed,” says Liz. “We have no children so he is our baby. Even if we go away, we have people come in and look after him. He had a lovely brown coat when we got him and now he is going grey, but he is doing well for his age.”
A year ago, there was a quite a scare when Nutmeg suffered a stroke: “We thought we had lost him and we were very upset, but after a few days in hospital he was back to his normal self,” Ian said. “He is a cracking old guy, and is still as cantankerous as ever.”
We wish Nutmeg and his family the best of luck in achieving this incredible accolade.
