UK's 'oldest cat' turns 27-years-old

A cat from Bedford in England has just celebrated his 27th birthday, amazing his owners.

On March 6, a British cat called Wadsworth celebrated his 27th birthday, possibly making him the world's oldest feline.

Waddy, as he is more commonly known, is named after the British beer. He has lived with owner Ann Munday in Bedfordshire, England, since 1986. She adopted the cat when he was just 4 weeks old and had apparently been thrown out by his previous owners for being too small.

"When I got him I think he must have been the runt of the litter, he’s got no claws on his back feet,” Munday told Bedford Today.

"He was very poorly and sick when we got him," she told BBC. "He was back and forth to the vets in the first few weeks, he was full of infection."

Gill Monsell, Waddy's vet, says that the cat is largely healthy with only a few old-age ailments like hyperthyroidism. "Mrs. Munday does a fantastic job of treating him and he is very stable on the medication."

‘I’ve always had cats, but he is an absolute dream," Munday told Metro. "He has been a fantastic companion since my husband died 13 years ago."

At 125 cat years, it's no surprise that Waddy has slowed his pace a little. Munday describes him as a "little old man" who mainly eats and sleeps.

Record-breaking cats

It's unusual for cats to live into their 20s.

In 2007, a cat in Shropshire called Pussywillow, aged 26, was claimed to be the oldest in Britain, but the world record for the oldest cat ever, was set by Creme Puff who lived with her owner in Texas, USA, until her death in 2005 at the age of 38.

From CBBC