Flossie is officially the world’s oldest living cat. To decree it is the Guinness World Records. With its 26 years and 329 days, the animal is comparable to a human being of 120 years and in this story there is an extra curiosity: the cat and the girl who adopted her, Vicki Green of Orpington, district from Bromley, are the same age.
Flossie was born in 1995, it has changed more than one owner, always in the same family, until the person who followed it for three years realized they were no longer able to take care of it. She turned to the Tunbridge Wells, Crowborough and District branch of the Cats Protection organization for help, and they gave the old woman a loving welcome. But the volunteers never gave up hope of finding her a new home and her wish came true when Flossie and Vicki met.
The cat has had an adventurous life, having lived in a colony of stray cats near a hospital on the outskirts of Liverpool as a young girl. Then, with the help of two kind-hearted people, she managed to find a house, where she stayed for ten years. When the owner died, Flossie was taken in by her sister, with whom she lived for another 14 years. For the next three years she stayed with her son’s home, until her situation forced him to take her pet to Cats Protection.
But life, you know, is sometimes generous and with Flossie it really was. The super old lady has found a new sofa to snooze on, Vicki’s. At the girl’s house she settled in quickly, after the first few days of nocturnal confusion, because she didn’t know the place and she can’t see almost anything anymore. She now sleeps all night nestled next to the owner, who called her playful and sweet. She definitely has some problems, she is deaf, sometimes she has difficulty getting into the litter box and needs help cleaning. But all this is normal: her age, as confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records, is equivalent to that of a 120-year-old person. And Vicky is prepared, as her previous cat lived to be 21. According to her, people should be encouraged to adopt cats, but also older dogs, which is a beautiful and right thing to do.
