Oldest Living Cat: Corduroy, 26, Was Born When George Bush Sr. Was President

The world’s oldest living cat is once again Corduroy, a 26-year-old tabby born in the 1980s who was briefly dethroned of his title.

The Oregon house cat was officially bestowed the title of oldest living feline this week by the Guinness World Records, which shared some details about the long-living cat.

As a release from the record keeper explained, the world’s oldest living cat just celebrated his birthday at the beginning of the month.

“The oldest cat living is Corduroy (b. 1 August 1989), aged 25 years 339 days as of 6 July 2015. Corduroy lives with his owner, Ashley Reed Okura (USA) in Sisters, Oregon, USA.

“The Reed family have owned Corduroy since he was a kitten, and Ashley was just 7 years old.”

To put Corduroy’s age into perspective, George H.W. Bush was president when he was born. Corduroy is two years older than the World Wide Web and older than both his feline counterparts, the Carolina Panthers, Florida Panthers, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He is close to double the age of the average male domestic cat, putting him at more than 120 years old in feline years.

The family said they don’t do anything special for their pet, just letting him be a normal cat.

“The secret has been allowing him to be a cat — hunting and getting plenty of love!” Okura said in a statement released by Guinness World Records. “Growing up on 160 acres in Oregon, I allowed Corduroy to roam the ranch freely, so he always gets lots of exercise.”

This is now the second time that Corduroy has been given the title of world’s oldest cat. He was briefly the record-holder in 2014, but another cat named Tiffany Two stole away the title. Tiffany ended up living to 27 years, 2 months, and 20 days, CNN noted.

“It’s truly amazing to have picked Corduroy out from a litter when I was almost 7 years old and still have him in my life today,” Okura said.

Corduroy has a long way to go to get the title of the world’s oldest living cat of all time. The record holder is Creme Puff, who lived more than 38 years before passing almost exactly 10 years ago.

But if any cat is going to make a run at the title of world’s oldest living cat, it might be Corduroy. He comes from a family of good genes, including his brother, Batman, who lived to the ripe old age of 19. The average age for domestic cats is 15.

[Image via YouTube/Guinness World Records]