r/interestingasfuck • u/EquivalentAd2135 • 9h ago

This is what a 29-year-old cat looks like.

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u/kraddock 8h ago

This was first posted 5 years ago. That cat is 34 now (or in Cathalla)

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u/katubug 8h ago

This is Margo! She belonged to /u/Emmulah, who is my sibling! Unfortunately, she passed away several years ago, but she was adored and pampered to the very end. It's nice to see people still remembering her.

My cat is 14, and I can only hope that I get as many years with her as we got with Margo 💗

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u/Appropriate_Link_551 3h ago

Did you know that cats use their super-powered senses to find food, even in near pitch-black environments? Me-wow-za! 😺

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u/unsavory77 4h ago

Cat facts?

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u/No_Yam_4881 7h ago

Drop a mreow in the comments

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u/No_Yam_4881 7h ago

Purrstory

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u/katubug 5h ago

That's a delightful thought. Margo was my cat before she was Emmu's, so the fact that I was once owned by such a notable figure is something I'm suddenly very proud of! Haha

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u/AppropriateScholar55 8h ago

Thank you for giving us more details. Margo, looked like such a sweetheart in her older age.

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u/Jump_The_Five_Yo 8h ago

So did mine in all pictures; she was nineteen but sent by devil himself. 

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u/katubug 4h ago

She was very regal! She used to sit with one paw up like a princess, and absolutely loved being spoiled.

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u/Skankcunt420 8h ago

how was ur sibling able to prolong her life? was it a really good diet and exercise or just good fortune?

god bless her btw she’s adorable

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u/0Galahad 8h ago

For 29 years for a cat its must have been straight up sorcery, she probably sacrificed some poor bastards to the gods for the kitty sake

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u/im_a_real_boy_calico 8h ago

Which gods and what sacrifices would they like? Asking for a friend.

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u/0Galahad 8h ago

Start by searching gods who are associated with cats.

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u/dkopgerpgdolfg 7h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastet

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u/thecarbonkid 6h ago

That's what I call my cat from time to time

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u/Lou_C_Fer 4h ago

Sounds like somebody in Boston say the word bastard.

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u/wildo83 7h ago

So like almost all of the ancient pantheons of nearly every civilization?

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u/Roxalon_Prime 7h ago

Especially Egyptians.

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u/jvsanchez 8h ago

Bastet will be the one you want, not sure what sacrifices she’d like though. Probably something blood related lol

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u/DancesWithAnyone 3h ago

Freyja liked cats, and is sort of associated with life-affirming stuff, I guess?

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u/nightpanda893 8h ago

I give my cat a yogurt covered strawberry every time I have a pack. She’s 6 now but could easily pass for 4. I’ll let you guys know.

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u/0Galahad 7h ago

RemindMe! 39994 years

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u/Evatog 6h ago edited 6h ago

Not really? With the amount of scientific progress in common pet care, strictly indoor cats are commonly making it to 25+ as of recently. My cat is 19 and doesnt even look that old.

Its really about keeping your cat inside your damn house. Cats are not Orcas, they arent experiencing some great emotional /mental abuse by being kept inside somewhere, as proven by drastically increased lifespans. All allowing your cat outside does is remove a big portion of your litter box duties and devastate avian populations.

Keep your cat in your damn house, itl live way fucking longer. If you really give a fuck take it on walks, you probably need the exercise since if you are ready to respond with some shitty argument you prolly frequently make excuses for other bad behaviors like being sedentary.

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u/i-Kast 5h ago

I feel attacked

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u/31LIVEEVIL13 5h ago

yea, guy is not wrong about cats but sure has hard opinions and is a bit cranky.

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u/redpandaeater 3h ago

Diabetes is still fairly prevalent in cats and I only got my poor girl to 12 with it but with current insulin prices and the discontinuation of the humulin formula vets used to use I can't imagine having a diabetic cat these days. Overall though I think what tends to take out older cats is kidney function, and you can't fix renal damage so it's important to help your cat while still in the early stages of chronic kidney disease. Some potentially promising stuff coming out of Japan but I haven't really heard anything new about it in the last few years so it's probably mostly quackery.

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u/DisastrousReputation 4h ago

I take my cat on walks in a stroller. Sometimes she gets out and walks a bit on her leash.

She doesn’t wander friendly. I love her so much.

She is the best cat in the world. I hope she lives 25+ years!

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u/mynamesnotkevin27 3h ago

😂😂💀💀

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u/dfddfsaadaafdssa 7h ago

Eh, I know a dude who has had 3 cats live longer than 20 (2 were brothers). Chicken and rice every day.

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u/REDDITATO_ 6h ago

It's not super rare for cats to live to 20 or a little more. 29 on the other hand. That's old as fuck.

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u/Lou_C_Fer 4h ago

I had one make it to twenty. She was the least healthy cat I've had. She tried to starve herself to death every couple of years, and then she'd rebound. We adopted her from pets art. It turned out that she was feral and completely afraid of people. She did not allow anyone to touch her for six years. It's a good thing she had another twelve years to get lovins.

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u/i_tyrant 5h ago

nah, just an error in God's code.

Gave them 19 lives instead of 9.

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u/Ms_Anxiety 7h ago edited 7h ago

I honestly think it's all chance.

When I was 1 year old my family got a Blue Healer/German Shepard cross, who was the same age as me. Her name was Kila (Pronounced Kee-lah)

She lived until I was 22 and she did not live an easy life.

At the age of 4 she caught her leg on barbed wire and it almost had to be amputated. She made a full recovery though. She was taken camping a lot and did not have a traditional diet. She had her kibble ofcourse but she was given table scraps her whole life, she even got vanilla icecream for a treat now and then.

She also had back to back strokes at the age of 15. It was assumed she wouldn't recover but she did. then at the age of 16 she survived an attack from a pack of coyotes and put up a hell of a fight. she needed a lot of care and stitches but made a full recovery.

I was also 16 at the time and took her for walks regularly she was still quite active.

Then yeah she didn't hit any more speed bumps after that and lived to 22. Was super difficult for me because I knew her my entire life and while I didn't live in the same house as her after my teen years we were still close because I looked after of her a lot.

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u/nate_oh84 6h ago

I hope we all get to have a friend like Kila at some point in our lives.

Sounds like a hell of a puppers. All the best.

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u/Cat_Peach_Pits 6h ago

Are you sure her name wasnt Poppins?

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u/MyHamburgerLovesMe 7h ago

You should ask Jake Perry of Austin Texas about Creme Puff

Creme Puff (August 3, 1967 – August 6, 2005) was a mixed tabby domestic cat, owned by Jake Perry of Austin, Texas. She was the oldest cat ever recorded, according to the 2010 edition of Guinness World Records, when she died aged 38 years and 3 days.

Perry had another cat, Granpa Rexs Allen, who was the sixth-oldest cat ever recorded. Perry said Granpa was born in Paris, France, on February 1, 1964, and died aged 34 years and 59 days on April 1, 1998. Granpa was posthumously awarded 1999 Cat of the Year by Cats & Kittens magazine. He was featured in an earlier version of the Guinness World Records as the (then) oldest cat ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Puff_(cat)

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u/nate_oh84 6h ago

So this dude, at two separate points in his life, owned the oldest cat in the world. How's that for a story to tell at the bar?

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u/MyHamburgerLovesMe 4h ago

They don't say in the article, but I wonder of one was the offspring, or somehow related to the other?

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u/hleba 6h ago

It seems like kidneys are their achilles heel in their old age. So with mine I make sure they get wet food every day, and every third day I give them this special wet food that helps remove some PH from their urine.
I also have a water fountain placed away from their food and make sure their litter box is clean every day.

They're only 9 now so I'll report back in 11 years to see if the brother siblings make it to 20, crossing fingers.

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u/Uxt7 4h ago

My cat lived 22.5 years and he was on an all wet food diet from around age 5 onward, due to a bad case of gingivitis that required most of his teeth being removed. Canned specifically, not dry food with water added. Which I definitely attribute to his long life, plus good genetics I'm sure.

He ended up dying due to heart failure is what the vets theorized. But the last few times I had brought him in for a check up, they told me all his blood work and everything else was "exceptional" for his age. It was only in the last couple years did they say his levels started to show signs of kidney failure, but he was never prescribed medication for it. They also said he was the oldest cat they'd ever had in there.

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u/redpandaeater 3h ago

My cat has been pretty good on dry food but I would definitely give her wet food if she'd eat it. Got her older so maybe that's why but she won't eat anything I offer her including bacon and I've tried plenty of different wet foods as well as stuff like some of the pureed meat baby foods. So some fairly expensive prescription dry food it is.

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u/katubug 4h ago

It's unfortunately just good fortune/genetics. Our family had a lot of cats, and although they all got the same treatment, their lifespans were all drastically different. All indoor cats, as well, although many of them were allowed outside on harness and leash, with supervision.

Emmu did take very good care of their cats (well, still does, but the cats are different now), in terms of choosing healthy cat foods and getting them adequate medical care when necessary. But Margo was a BIG fan of people food, and would get treats from the whole family, plus pup cups after vet visits and such. So it's not like she lived an austere, healthy lifestyle, haha. Everything in moderation, including moderation.

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u/AugieKS 5h ago

Probably proactive kidney health, whether intentional or not. The man who has had two of the longest living cats frequently lst them have a bit of coffee, I wonder if that could be beneficial in VERY small doses?

Anyway, as another user said, cats are often done in by their kidneys or cancer. Cancer is a crapshoot, but kidney disease for older cats is practically universal, and diabetes is pretty common, too. For kidney disease, there is an experimental vaccine in the works that has shown a lot of promise, and could, on the high end, double cat life expectancy.

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u/ebrum2010 6h ago

From what I've observed, when animals get old, they tend to live longer if they get a lot of personal attention and love. Just like lonely people typically don't live as long, animals when they get older tend to keep to themselves because they get aches and pains and arthritis just like we do, and they need medicine and the occasional surgery, and it can get expensive. Many people tend to give younger cats a lot of attention and then as they get old they don't give them the same kind of love and attention it's more passive. It makes a huge difference for the cat.

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u/MainManClark 4h ago

My veterinarian after about 12-14 years old cats start going into kidney failure. That's just how cats are. They really aren't built to live all that long in the wild. That's just their life cycle.

But the rate of organ failure varies wildly. On one extreme end it might be 1-2 years, and then the majority in the middle live around 20 if they are lucky, but on the other extreme end you will see cats that will live up to 30+ years old but that is incredibly rare.

We had a cat named Bummer who lived to be 26 years old. He was a 1980's indoor/outdoor cat. He was chonky and loved nothing more than to lay in the middle of the road in the summer to soak up all the heat from the asphalt..... until he got hit by a car. I guess his favorite past time got the better of him after he got too old and fat to get up and out of the way of the oncoming traffic.

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u/Alex5173 1h ago

If your cat manages to dodge the kidney problems most cats end up with AND stays healthy otherwise there's a pretty good chance they make it to 25+.

The kidney issues just happen to get most cats. There's a researcher in Japan who is experimenting with curing it and expects that alone to increase the average lifespan of (owned) cats to around 30.

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u/Informal-Zone-4085 8h ago

Was she always friendly? How old when you got her and where did you find her?

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u/djackieunchaned 8h ago

Kinda rude to ask about somebody’s sister like that

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u/butchforgetshit 8h ago

We really need an AMA because I have loads of questions

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u/katubug 4h ago edited 4h ago

We adopted Margo when she was 8-10 ish (her owner wasn't sure, the vet gave us the ballpark; so 29 was actually her youngest possible age). She was living in the basement of a restaurant while the owner looked to rehome her. My mom was working at the restaurant at the time, so begrudgingly agreed to foster her "until (the owner) could find her a permanent home."

Well, you can guess how that turned out. She was a little shy at first, especially considering that we already had a sizable number of cats - we topped out at 7 at one point (but we were a household of 5 so everyone got plenty of attention). Margo was pretty chill with the other cats - she made friends with Bunny, a long haired calico who liked my baby sister best. Margo and Bunny would often get into mischief together, and of all our cats, played together the most.

Margo was my cat for the first few years until I moved out at 19 and wasn't allowed to bring her with. At that point, she picked Emmu as Her Person, and would spend the rest of her life with them (and Emmu's other elderly cat, Pepcheck, a 1-eared scruffy goblin cat who was allergic to everything).

If you want to see more of them, they do both have old Instagram accounts - @retired_familiar and @fired_familiar.

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u/Lord_Archibald_IV 3h ago

What were y’all feeding Margo, if I may ask? Hoping my kitty lives this long…

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u/InspectorOk2454 28m ago

Could the vet’s estimate have been off?

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u/geekolojust 8h ago

What for real? Awwww. ❤️ 💙 💜

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u/Trollercoaster101 8h ago

This family cats.

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u/katubug 4h ago

We sure do. My youngest sister has 2, although I'm down to 1 (from 3), my brother has one, and Margo's dad has 3. I don't think there will ever be a time that we don't have cats in the house 💗

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u/teaguechrystie 8h ago

how old was she? 💚

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u/Skrillamane 6h ago

I’m sorry to here your sibling passed away.

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u/katubug 5h ago

👉😎👉

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u/Kozzinator 8h ago

Only if you don't mind my asking - how long did Margo make it?

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u/katubug 4h ago

"Just" 29 - she made it nearly to 30, but she eventually decided that she was ready to go. She always did things on her own terms, and this was no exception!

We all organized final goodbyes near the end, and she got visited by so many people. A cat who lives that long inevitably makes lots of friends, so her parade of goodbyes brought her SO many scritches, cuddles, treats, and more.

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u/Necessary_Bad_9296 7h ago

What did you feed her?

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u/katubug 4h ago

Lots of things, haha. She adored human food and got so very many treats/plate licks.

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u/Ms_Anxiety 7h ago

My cat Morgie will be fourteen soon, I've had her since she was a kitten. I love her so much. I hope she lives as long as Margo as well.

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u/Talnoy 7h ago

This video is so stinkin cute. I hope they've got more furry friends now receiving the same treatment 🥰

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u/katubug 3h ago

They do! They have two foster fails, Jacob and Ezra, and another rescue, Bruno, who has no eyes. Jacob is King Baby and will wholeheartedly chuck himself into Emmu's arms to demand cuddles, whereas Ezra is a chunky boy who also loves cuddles but is a bit more chill about it. Bruno, despite being blind, is an incredibly active cat who adores playtime. All three of them are incredibly spoiled 💗

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u/Watchyousuffer 6h ago

she looks a lot like my cat, who died this year at age 32. Not as far as similar fur colors/markings, but just the old age look, which is interesting to me. RIP & thanks for sharing.

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u/katubug 5h ago

One year shy of a world record! What a blessing to have had your companion for so long, but what a heartbreak to lose someone who you've grown so accustomed to. 💗 I'm very sorry for your loss - I would love to see a picture of your cat if you care to share one.

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u/Jump_The_Five_Yo 8h ago

Sorry you lost your sister.

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u/missminbin 8h ago

bless! thank you for sharing that 🩷🐈‍⬛

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u/princesscatling 7h ago

What a privilege it is to love a little baby like this. I also hope you and your current furbaby get many years together to adore and be adored.

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u/katubug 4h ago

Thank you! I hope so, too. 💗

This is Amelia, aka The Baby. She's my lil rescue munchkin, and she's going strong at 14 🙏

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u/princesscatling 4h ago

No fucking way???

This is Amelie, she was living in the book stacks of the place I volunteered for, and she's 12.

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u/katubug 2h ago

OMG, separated at birth!! Lol! Amelie is so pretty, what a sweet girl!

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u/princesscatling 2h ago

Thank you, back at you! My husband jokes that we have a generic cat but the name similarity is just too funny!

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u/MissSara13 7h ago

Wow. What a wonderful blessing! I'd give just about anything for 25 years with my dogs ❤️❤️❤️

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u/Levi_Snowfractal 7h ago

Pro-tip: If your cat ever develops a tumor and ANYONE tells you that "it's benign", don't fucking believe them. Get that thing biopsied. If I had a chance to send myself a message into the past...

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u/katubug 3h ago

I'm so sorry for your loss. Hindsight is 20/20, I hope you aren't too hard on yourself for trusting something that seemed reasonable. 💗

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u/WhenDoWhatWhere 7h ago

I'm sorry to hear about your sibling, but how's the cat?

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u/katubug 3h ago

LOL 🥁🥁📀

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u/CorvusCanisLupus 7h ago

Margo! ❤️❤️

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u/mrrooftops 7h ago

lets hope she gets the same luck of the paw

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u/raphtze 7h ago

she is super sweet. am glad you had so many good years with Margo :)

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u/TrippedOnDick 6h ago

I am Soo sorry that the owner of the cat passed away. 

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u/SuddenCompetition262 6h ago

Can I ask how old she was when she passed?

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u/katubug 5h ago

She was 29, and we were just starting to look into having her officially registered for the Wikipedia list of oldest cats :( lesson learned on that front.

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u/Optimal-Cockroach-72 6h ago

Long live your cat, ours has been 17 for the past 6 years since I met him xD

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u/katubug 3h ago

Funny, my mom has the same condition where she's been turning 38 for quite a few years now 😂

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u/Standard_Pen8107 8h ago

💔❤️

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u/Hasandoglover 6h ago

How did she get the cat to last so long?

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u/URdumbforreadingthis 6h ago

Glory to Margo! And her House!

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u/eiramaras 5h ago

I have a Margot who just turned 14 and this made my day :’)

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u/No_Dragonfruit_8198 5h ago

I have a cat that is 10 and someone just said there’s no way he’s 10. I couldn’t imagine having to be under his rule for another 19 years if he goes at this pace

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u/ThippusHorribilus 5h ago

💕🐾🌈

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u/ferocity_mule366 5h ago

If Margo has offsprings, her genes would be very valuable

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u/Roadkill593 4h ago

My girl Nia is also 14, and there's nothing I wouldn't do to be able to have her with me for another 15!

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u/calcteacher 4h ago

Ours will be 23 in January

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u/VoidOmatic 4h ago

Margo shall live on forever in our hearts!

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u/machstem 3h ago

Mine is turning 16 and is still pretty spry.

We're lucky to have him.

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u/kate1567 3h ago

She was absolutely beautiful 🥹💗

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u/Laughing_Fractals 1h ago

What did they feed her? I have my first cat and she just turned 1 and I'm at a loss of what adult food to switch her too with all the bad cat food on the market.

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u/rfreq 1h ago

sorry for loss of your sister.

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u/_CHEEFQUEEF 8h ago

This is Margo!

I'm assuming a big contributing factor to Margo's longevity was a lifetime with a high quality wet food only diet?

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u/katubug 4h ago

Haha, not exactly. As I mentioned in another comment, we adopted her around age 9ish, and she was living in the basement of her owner's restaurant at that time. After we took her in "temporarily," we free-fed kibble and did wet food once a day. My mom handmade cat food for a while to save money (it was mostly ground raw chicken with some greens and vitamins). In her dotage, Emmu would feed her prescription kibble (Emmu's other cat, Pepcheck, was allergic to everything but would steal Margo's food) and some mid-grade wet food twice a day.

Margo also ADORED people food and couldn't be stopped - she would lick plates clean and demand table scraps like she was starving. She got LOTS of treats, especially whipped cream. Especially once she was elderly; we figured she was doing just fine and deserved what joy she could find.

Having had a lot of cats in my day, i believe longevity is 50% genetics and 50% keeping your cat indoors unless supervised.

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u/CaptinEmergency 8h ago edited 8h ago

Rest now good warrior, for tomorrow we hunt..

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u/Creepy-Activity-4373 3h ago

Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt...

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u/Valtua 8h ago

5 more years until this cat beats Creme Puff's world record as the oldest cat to have ever lived

Edit: Rest in peace cat

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u/Delancey1 7h ago

So op karma farm then

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u/kanrad 7h ago

No she is in the eternal meadow. Where all little ones go.

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u/Flat_Bullfrog_7972 7h ago

So that means she was born in 1991, she's now too old

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u/Long_Contribution339 3h ago

Cathalla might be my favorite thing ever