The world’s oldest cat has died at the age of 31. Rubble, the stunning Maine Coon, was given to his owner, Michele Heritage, as a 20th birthday gift, and has been with her ever since.
Michele, 52, has paid tribute to her beloved fur-baby, who became the oldest known cat in the world after reaching his 31st birthday. That’s almost 150 years old in cat years!
The elderly cat was healthy, with no known health problems. The gentle cat passed away from old age after becoming very frail on the 3rd of July, 2020.
Michele, from Exeter, said the moggy sadly died before turning 32. She said her beloved cat “went across the road,” and “never came back.”
Michele puts Rubble’s incredible lifespan down to the fact that she never had children, so she doted on him as if he were a child.
“He would have been 32 in May, so it was such an achievement. He was an amazing companion that I had the pleasure to live with for such a long time,” Michele said.
“I got him just before my 20th birthday when he was a kitten.”
Rubble managed to beat the oldest living cat record, previously held by a Siamese Texas named Scooter, who was 30-years-old before he passed away in 2016.
The oldest known cat of all time is Creme Puff, who lived until 38-years-old and 3 days.
“We never went down the route of Guinness Book of Records. I didn’t want to do that given his age. The record wasn’t of interest to us,” says Michelle.
“He grew old very quickly towards the end, I said to my husband at Christmas that I think it would be last we spend with Rubble. He had started to stop eating and only drank water.”
“He became very thin. I went to work as usual and when I got home my husband said Rubble had gone over the road as he did every day and never came back, so we believe he went off to die as cats do.”
“He was a creature of habit, had his favorite places to sleep and liked his food so when that stopped happening, we knew.”
Michele remembers the moment she first met Rubble on her 20th birthday, saying, “He was part of a litter cat that my sister’s friend had, and I had just left home.”
“I was lonely living on my own, so got him in as a kitten. It was in May 1988.”
“I have always treated him like a child – I don’t have any children and had another cat called Meg – who passed at the age of 25. If you care about something, no matter what it is, it does last.”
Rest peacefully, Rubble!
