# Your longest lived pet **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946 "2012-01-09T18:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/1 "2012-01-09T18:26:40Z")
[Inspiring thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=637807). We had a stray female cat whom we picked up when she was a kitten-and I was 2 1/2 years old. Long fine hair, dark tail, brown and black splotches on otherwise white fur, named Pussywillow. She lived to be 19, so I was in college and she was still alive (tho being ravaged by the cancer which would kill her). Had a Shih-Tzu which lived to be 13, and a Black Lab got to 11. I still miss them all. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/2 "2012-01-09T18:30:30Z")
My beloved [Schatzi](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=573744&highlight=schatzi) was 22 or 23 when he headed off to the great cat tree in the sky. He was a lovely little kitty. His fellow grumpy grandpa kitty Taz, was 17. My previous dog made it to just shy of 16, and my aunt had a poodle that made it to 26. That was a very, very old poodle. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/3 "2012-01-09T18:39:58Z")
A pet granite rock whose origins were probably about a billion years ago. A fossilized trilobite named Binky who’s over 250 million years old. One cat made it to 18. And one dog who made it past 14. ---
**Author:** ![Anna\_Nimity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Anna\_Nimity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anna_Nimity)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/4 "2012-01-09T18:43:02Z")
I have a male black cat right now that is 22 or maybe a little older. He came to live with us in 1991, he was full grown but I’m assuming he was no older than a year. He’s doing pretty well, he may have a touch of kitty dementia. Our cats have always had free range of the house except for the kitchen counters, they’ve all been trained at a young age not to go up there. Now and then, I walk into the kitchen and he’s up on the counter. Of course, you don’t scold anyone that old and really I’m glad he has the energy. He is skinny and has slowed down though. I always fed them food that was as grain free as possible, no corn, byproducts, etc. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/5 "2012-01-09T18:44:39Z")
Not technically mine, but an outdoor/barn cat our family owned that made it 22 or 23 years old. I’ve had larger dogs most of my life (typically shorter lifespans than smaller dogs); the oldest was an 80 lb GSD x something mix who was 14 when she passed. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/6 "2012-01-09T18:48:41Z")
Our border collie mix, Bernie, was close to 16 when we had her put to sleep - her life at that point was barely an existence. And just today we had to put down our little foundling mutt - our best guess is that she was between 16 and 18. We’ve got 2 cats now - one is about 8 and the other is 3 - we’ll see how long they make it. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/7 "2012-01-09T18:58:43Z")
Dog made it to 22. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/8 "2012-01-09T19:05:46Z")
My childhood pet cat Princess lived 22 years. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/9 "2012-01-09T19:12:20Z")
My oldest cat is 19+ and still hanging in there. Deaf as a post and thinner than I would like, but still has 10 good days to each bad one. Kidneys are dicky, so probably won’t manage another year. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/10 "2012-01-09T19:17:46Z")
I had a cat that lived to be about 22 or 23, and my current oldest dog is 16+. I would probably have had animals that lived longer but I have a very low tolerance for their suffering, so I usually choose euthanasia over “heroic efforts” when I have very sick animals. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/11 "2012-01-09T19:19:59Z")
My wife’s cat lived to be about 20 and my childhood dog (a lab/beagle mutt) lived to be about 20, too. My dog now (a chow/lab mutt) is 10 and in great shape. People can’t believe it when I say she’s ten. I apparently take care of my animals much better than I take care of myself. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/12 "2012-01-09T19:48:38Z")
Dog before last lived to be 18, and died on the 18th anniversary of the day we got him. Hadn’t been sick or feeble at all. It was completely sudden and, even considering his age, very unexpected. I still miss him, and that was 1989. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/13 "2012-01-09T20:04:36Z")
Our last dog (a schipperke / Cardigan corgi mix) lived to 18, though she was pretty feeble in the last year or two. It was a lot of anguish for us, particularly my wife: the dog was clearly not doing that well (she’d been blind for a number of years due to glaucoma, and then became incontinent), but there was no real sign of distress or pain, which led to the “do you put a dog to sleep because of that” discussion which went around and around. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/14 "2012-01-09T20:27:09Z")
All of the SuperKitties are of course strays, so ages are approximate, based on the vet’s best guess. My darling Murphy was about 22, which of all my pets over the years is an all-time record. I had to have him put to sleep because his kidneys had shut down, but up until a relatively short time before that, he was remarkably healthy for such an old boy. Turk is about eight or nine, and Widget is right around eight months - today. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/15 "2012-01-09T20:29:26Z")
Wife had a Siamese cat that lived about 22 years, about 15 of them under my roof. I maintain to this day that the cat lived so long purely to spite me. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/16 "2012-01-09T20:30:25Z")
Our first cat lived to 14 and then got cancer. Second cat died of a congenital kidney disease at 5. My current cat is 4 1/2 and my parents’ cats are 3. My cousins had a cat that was 6 months older than me and died when I was 22. Last year was the first time in my entire life that I’d gone to their house without that cat there. It was weird. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/17 "2012-01-09T20:33:46Z")
Our beloved cat died last summer at age 19. It still feels like I want to hold the air that she occupied, and I still think I see her move from the corner of my eye, but it’s often blurry there when I think of her too often. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/18 "2012-01-09T20:44:30Z")
My moms yorkies made it to 14 and 15. A bit too long really. The oldest was nearly toothless, blind and incontinent. They didn’t want her put down. Her quality of life really went downhill those last two years. Mom was heartbroken when she finally died. They waited five years before getting more yorkies. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/19 "2012-01-09T20:58:43Z")
Surprised that nobody has mentioned any birds yet. We had a cockatiel that was a few years older than me and that died when I was 14. That bird loved the Hell outta me, too; when I was a baby, it would apparently fly into my crib and fall asleep/nest beside me, and throughout my adolescence it was always extremely affectionate towards me over everybody else. Even though he passed on several years ago, now, I still really miss that bird; to this day, I say that he was the best pet I’ve ever had. The funny thing is that other than that one cockatiel, I’m not even a big fan of keeping birds as pets. But man, that bird was friggin’ amazing. Cats & dogs? I couldn’t really say for sure. When I was very little, my parents had to put down a couple of dogs (spread a few years apart, though) that I’m guessing were each around 10 years old at the time they were euthanized; it was so early in my life, though, that I barely even remember them. My dad has a dog now that’s well over 10 years old, and everytime I see her I walk away thinking that she’s gotta be on her last legs; but the thing is, that’s been happening for many years now, and I don’t want to jinx anything, but barring any accidents I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes it another several years. He also has a cat that’s probably around 9 years old, and she’s in great shape. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946/20 "2012-01-09T21:20:21Z")
Mike. Big orange tabby cat. Really big- and not overweight. He was a sweet, good-natured, gentle giant. A ridiculous high-pitched peep for a voice (you would have expected him to roar). He got us when he was 7 weeks old, died of kidney failure eighteen and a half years later. We adored him. . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-longest-lived-pet/608946.md?page=2)