Nutmeg is a tabby cat from Gateshead, United Kingdom, and is considered to be the world’s oldest feline. Despite his grand old age of 31 years old, that’s the equivalent of 140 in human years, Nutmeg is still going strong, and it looks like he has many more years ahead. He just celebrated his 31st birthday in the company of his humans, Liz and Ian Finlay. The Finlays say their senior is “absolutely gorgeous and part of their family.” Nutmeg became part of the couple’s lives when he wandered into their backyard back in 1990. They decided to keep the stray animal after they realized he had a medical condition that needed immediate attention.The oldest cat according to the Guinness World Record was Corduroy who was 26. Unfortunately, the family has no documentation to prove Nutmeg’s age.
Ian and Liz found Nutmeg with an abscess on his back.
At the time he was admitted to Cats Protection, Nutmeg was registered as an adult, making him old enough to claim the title.
Being recorded as an adult means that he was at least two years old at that time. That would make him at least 28 years old, which means he is older than Corduroy.
“He is not our cat – we are his humans and he never lets us forget that. I think that’s the secret to his long life,” Ian says.
“He is spoilt rotten…He comes in every morning at five a.m. and we get up and feed him. We have no children so he is our baby,” Liz admits. “Nutmeg is like a lovable old grandpa. He is very gentle, but he has changed as he has got older, just like humans do.”
While treated at the Westway Veterinary Center in NewCastle, the vets suggested it may be time to put Nutmeg down. The couple decided that if Nutmeg was going to die, it would be at home. But it didn’t take too long for Nutmeg to recover from this life-threatening condition.
“He only has three teeth left but he loves chicken so much he stands at the fridge door when he wants to be fed,” Ian says.
