Companion For Life Project stories

Tiffany Two: the world's oldest cat is 27 years old

Tiffany Two: the world's oldest cat is 27 years old
Celebrating 27 years of life as well as a spot in the Guinness Book of Records is Tiffany Two, the ‘world's oldest cat'. This elderly tortoiseshell, born 13 March 1988, lives in California with her owner Sharron Voorhees. Putting aside the current media circus surrounding her new celebrity status, Tiffany Two arouses considerable public curiosity since it is rare for cats to reach such an advanced age. Saying that, the ‘true' record-breaking cat in terms of age – the world's oldest ever recorded cat – was Creme Puff, who lived peacefully in Texas for an incredible 38 years before passing away in 2005!

Tiffany Two: a long and happy life

Voorhees named Tiffany Two after another identically coloured cat she had once owned in the 70s called Tiffany. Unfortunately the original Tiffany was not able to count on the same longevity that her successor enjoyed and was struck down by cancer at a much younger age.It was love at first sight for Voorhees when she first spotted six-week-old Tiffany Two in a local pet shop that was going out of business. Voorhees told Time magazine that the $10 she paid for her was the “the best $10" she had ever spent.According to Voorhees, Tiffany Two's everyday life is very run-of-the-mill. She still goes outside from time to time and is still able to go up and down stairs. Voorhees also spoke of her feline's fiery nature, saying: “She's not afraid of anything or anyone. She walks right past the dogs, she's very feisty!"

What to expect from an older cat?

According to Sharron Voorhees, besides suffering from high blood pressure, Tiffany Two is still in good health and has excellent vision and hearing. However cats over ten years old can be expect to slow down a bit. Veterinarian Benedetta Giannini explains what health issues they may face… A cat ‘of retirement age' pays the price of old age by sleeping more, playing less, suffering more from the cold, being reluctant to groom and withdrawing from human interaction, she describes. They can also present with problems eating and digesting their food. In these cases, the first steps to take to mitigate the consequences of old age is to help your senior cat with its daily cleaning, be careful with its diet and monitor its food intake, Giannini advises.