The Feline Fountain of Youth

Learn the secrets to long life for your cat.

By Julie Mignery

Tweet

When I was in my 20s, I adopted an adorable, year-old brown and black tabby named Fergie. She was the first cat I'd owned as an adult, and I remember thinking, as she took her first exploratory tour of my apartment, that there was a good chance I'd still have her when I hit 40. At the time, 40 seemed like a long way off, but now it's just a few years away and Fergie is 12. She's definitely a senior - a veterinarian I talked to for this story told me the average life expectancy for indoor cats is 15 - but I learned from last year's Oldest Living Cat Contest that she has a chance of surpassing that milestone by many, many years.

Of the 161 contest entries for 2007, 29 cats were in their 20s, and two were 30 or older. I talked with a few of their owners and veterinarians to try to uncover the longevity secrets of last year's oldest cat winners.

**Get the August 2008 issue of CAT FANCY to read the full article.**

Tweet

 Give us your opinion on
The Feline Fountain of Youth

Earn 1,000 points! What's this?

Christy    Cape Girardeau, MO 7/26/2008 2:36:19 PM My Beloved Dinka lived to be past 18 years old in May. I hope that our two new kittens, brothers Tex and Jeff, live at least as ong as Dink did. I'm going to order a fountain for them after reading the article in the magazine. (And after finding them drinking from the toilet twice. blech.) Brittany    Garrettsville, OH 7/15/2008 4:18:20 PM This is a great, inspirational story! I have two cats, Cleo who is 8, and Fancy who is 2, and I am also caring for my sisters 12 year old cat named Nugget. I am 17 years old and plan on having my cats for many more years to come, maybe they will even make it to the oldest cat contest years from now!