A cat living in Macclesfield is staking a claim to be the oldest in the UK.
And at 26 years and 21 days, Tammy, who lives on the Moss with owner Anna Gough, is a just whisker away from being the oldest in the world.
The cat – who is the equivalent of 121 human years – was born on March 18, 1990.
This makes her just seven months younger than American cat Corduroy, who was born in August 1989, which according to Guinness World Records is the oldest cat living.
Tammy was bought as a companion for family cat Boots when Anna was just four, and since then the pair have been inseparable.
Anna said: “I never thought Tammy would last this long.
She is pretty healthy, although a bit wobbly and deaf, which probably comes in handy sharing a house with a four-year-old and two dogs.
“People are amazed when I tell her she is 26 and say it must some kind of record. I will have to fill in the forms and see.
“She has been a permanent fixture in my life, I love her to bits and I’m dreading the day she goes.”
Anna, who used to push Tammy around in a carriage, said: “I picked her out when she was 12 weeks old. We initially thought she was a boy and named her Thomas. But when we registered her with the vets we found out she was a girl.
“She never left my side. It got pretty bad to the point that I would insist Tammy slept with me and had her beside me on the pillow.
“Sometimes my poor mum and dad had to go out into the street at night to find Tammy to bring her back so I would go to bed.”
Anna now lives with fiancée Andre and their son Theo, four.
With such a busy household, Tammy spends some of her time at her ‘retirement home’ with Anna’s mum Andrea in Whaley Bridge.
Anna, a sales manager, stated: “Tammy has always been an outdoorsy cat, so sunning herself in mum’s garden is a great way to end her days. We’re giving the old lady a quieter life.
“These days she can’t groom herself as much so I get to do it.
“I’m repaying her for all the friendship and company she gave me when I was small.”
Amber-Georgina Gill, from Guinness World Records Ltd, stated: “This is an incredible achievement and one to rival the current record holder Corduroy in the USA.
“Guinness World Records monitors all different kinds of achievement and Tammy and her owner Anna are more than welcome to apply online via our website to submit her evidence for verification.”
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