This is Nutmeg – believed to be the world’s oldest cat at 31.
Nutmeg is still going strong having recently bounced back from a serious illness that nearly robbed him of one of his nine lives.
The adorable senior cat underwent lifesaving treatment at Westway Veterinary Centre in Newcastle after suffering a stroke.
Now, nearly a year later, he is still going strong and not showing any signs of slowing down.
Nutmeg is owned by Blaydon couple by the names of Liz and Ian Finlay, who say they adopted the former stray 26 years ago when he arrived unexpectedly in their garden.
However, the Finlay family feared they were about to lose him when suffered a seizure just the past September and was taken to Westway’s main veterinary hospital on West Road in Newcastle, where he was treated by vet Laura Gillis.
Laura explained: “His temperature was too low to read on our thermometers. Serious discussions were held with Mr. and Mrs. Finlay, who decided to give Nutmeg a chance. “It was just as well they did, as he is still going strong all these months later.”
Ian Finlay, Nutmeg’s owner said, “We thought we had lost him and we were very upset, but after a few days in hospital he was back to his normal self.
He is a cracking old guy, and is still as cantankerous as ever.”
Nutmeg was in a bad way when he first arrived at the Finlay home in 1990 suffering from an abscess on his neck.
Liz and Ian together managed to coax him into their home with food, before taking him to Cats Protection, who estimated he was about five at the time. The previous record for the world’s oldest cat was Siamese cat Scooter you may remember, who died at aged 30 just weeks after being named a record-breaker by Guinness Book of World Records.
