World Record for Oldest Cat Ever

When it comes to feline longevity, one cat holds the undisputed world record—Creme Puff, who lived an astonishing 38 years and 3 days!

Born on August 3, 1967, and passing away on August 6, 2005, this remarkable cat from Austin, Texas, remains the longest-lived domestic cat ever recorded.

Creme Puff’s owner, Jake Perry, was known for raising multiple long-lived cats, including another record-breaker, Granpa Rexs Allen, who lived to 34. Perry credited their exceptional lifespans to a unique diet and plenty of mental stimulation.

Most cats live between 12 and 18 years, with some reaching their early 20s—but Creme Puff defied all odds. Her mind-blowing age is a testament to the potential for feline longevity with the right care, genetics, and probably a whole lot of luck.

World's Oldest Cat Alive Today

As of February 2025, the title of the world's oldest living domestic cat belongs to Flossie, a remarkable tortie from the United Kingdom. Born on December 29, 1995, Flossie is now over 29 years old, far surpassing the average cat’s lifespan of 12 to 18 years. 

Flossie's journey began as a stray kitten near a hospital in Liverpool. She was adopted by a hospital worker and has since lived in multiple loving homes.

Despite being deaf and having limited vision, Flossie remains affectionate and playful, enjoying her senior years with her current owner, Vicki Green. Flossie's age is amazing, but she still has a ways to go to catch Creme Puff.

World Record for Oldest Human

Wait a second - why are we talking about humans on VerveCat? Fair question.

Since this calculator is about converting a cat's age to the human age equivalent, we thought we'd include the human longevity record to hold up against Creme Puff's cat longevity record.

Jeanne Calment of France holds the record as the oldest verified human, living an incredible 122 years and 164 days (1875–1997). Do you think she had any idea that her life wasn't even half over on her 60th birthday?!

She lived through world-changing events, from the invention of the airplane to the internet age. Known for her wit and humor, she claimed to have met Vincent van Gogh in her youth and took up fencing at age 85.

Calment credited her longevity to a diet rich in olive oil, a daily indulgence in chocolate and port wine, and an active lifestyle. She didn’t let stress rule her life, saying, “If you can’t do anything about it, don’t worry about it.”

Most humans don’t even come close to 122 years—only about 1 in 1,000 people reach 100, and verified supercentenarians (110+ years old) are even rarer. Living past 115 is exceptionally uncommon, with only a handful of cases ever recorded worldwide.

Conventional Cat Age Calculator Formulas Explained

It can be fun (or alarming!) to figure out how old your cat is in human years. There are a few formulas out there that aim to give you such an estimate. 

Conventional Formulas

The simplest is counting each year of a cat’s age as 5 human years. This works fine for older cats (like over the age of 12), but it has a big flaw. Which is that it doesn’t account for the rapid development that takes place during kittenhood and feline adolescence. 

That problem is addressed using the now-widely established formula that gives a much higher value to the first two years compared to the other years of a cats’ life. It goes like this:

• 1st year = 15 years
• 2nd year = + 9 years (2-year-old cat = 24 human years)
• Each year after = + 4 years 

This 15/9/4 cat age formula works nicely because a cat enters prime adulthood at about the age of 24 months (2 years). And although it’s not as simple as the 5 years for every year equation, it’s still easy enough to memorize and do the math quickly in your head.  

The Argument for a Revised Cat Age Calculator Formula

We agree that the standard 15/9/4 formula works pretty well, but only up to a certain point. When you apply it to the oldest of cats, you quickly realize it gets a little unrealistic at the upper end if it’s really trying to map onto human equivalencies. 

So we tweaked it a little.

This results in subtle changes from years 2 to 20, and big changes from year 21+.

Take Jake Perry’s amazing kitties as an example. The conventional cat age formula would put Creme Puff at 168 and Granpa Rexs Allen at 152 when they died. That would make Creme Puff 46 years older than the world record oldest human.

We also wondered how accurate the conventional 15-9-4 formula is in calling a 20-year-old cat the same as a 96-year-old human. So we looked at lifespan studies for cats and for humans.

A recent large-scale study conducted with companion cats in the UK suggests that about 4-5% of cats make it to the age of 20. Compare that to studies of human lifespans in developed countries that suggest roughly 4-5% of humans make it to age 90.

So the numbers using the conventional formula don’t quite line up for a 20-year old cat, and they’re way off for a 38-year-old cat if we’re truly talking about human age equivalents. 

Also, given that average life expectancy for outdoor cats is much lower than for indoor-only cats, we suspect that if a study looked at indoor-only cats exclusively, the proportion that make it to age 20 would be even higher than 4-5%. 

If that’s the case, then the human equivalent for a 20-year-old cat would drop even lower than 90. Maybe we’ll update our formula when such a study is completed! 

For now at least, it goes as follows…

What's Different About the VerveCat Age Calculator Formula?

For the VerveCat Age Calculator, we wanted to achieve a more accurate equivalency between cats and humans at the upper end of the age spectrum. 

This involved more accurately syncing up the two age points (20 and 38) we talked about in the last section.

Given that 4-5% of cats make it to 20, and 4-5% of humans make it to 90, a 20-year-old cat should be 90 in human years (rather than 96). 

So, to make the cat age of 20 equal to 90 human years, we adjusted the value for years after the cat age of 2 (the start of cat adulthood), and made it 3.66 instead of 4 (for each cat year after age 2, add 3.66 human years; this makes 3 cat years = 11 human years). 

It’s a subtle but meaningful difference. And personally, I like what it means for my cats (as I write this in February 2025) - instead of being in their mid-60’s, they actually just turned 60 - still practically spring chickens! 🙂

We also wanted the formula to make Creme Puff’s record age (38) equivalent to the human record of Jeanne Calment - 122 years. 

So we made each cat year after age 20 (90 human years) count as 1.8 years (that makes 5 cat years = 9 human years). 

Put those two formula changes together, and you get a 20 year old cat that’s 90 in human years, and a 38 year-old cat that’s 122 in human years. 

Plus, it’s a nice idea to think about - wouldn’t it be great if humans’ rate of aging was cut in half once we hit our golden years?!

We should also acknowledge that this new formula does have one significant downside. It's hard to memorize and nearly impossible to do in your head. But that's why we made the calculator!

More Precise Age Conversions for Kittens and Adolescent Cats

In both the calculator interfaces on this page, we’ve also provided inputs for weeks and months to give cat owners a more nuanced and precise age calculation compared to other tools out there. 

This is especially useful for owners of kittens and teenage cats. And for those who know their cat’s actual birthday or approximate time of birth, it allows for a more precise “human years” result than other calculators.

Do These 4 Things to Help Your Cat Live as Long as Possible

Whenever we ask people on our facebook page what they would change if they could change one thing about their cat, many people say something like “live longer.” 

And it’s always the answer that resonates the most for me - what I wouldn’t give to have all three of my cats live as long as Creme Puff! 

Indeed, one of the very toughest things about pets is how short their lives typically are compared to us humans.

The good news is, there are factors in our control that tend to lead to shorter or longer lives for our kitties. Here are 3 big ones.

1. Keep your cat indoors-only

This can be a controversial and heated debate, but the numbers are clear - cats that never go outside unsupervised are much, much more likely to live longer, healthier lives. 

If you really want to give your cat access to the outdoors, do it using a safe option - supervised or contained in a catio.

If this is an issue you’d like to learn more about, you should check out these articles:

• Should You Let Your Cat Go Outside? Guide to the Pros and Cons
• Safe Solutions to the Indoor vs Outdoor Cat Dilemma
• How to Convert Your Outdoor Cat to an Indoor-Only Cat
  

2. Mind your cat’s nutrition and hydration from the start

Cats are obligate carnivores and require a diet primarily made of meat. Make sure the food you’re giving your cat has the right balance of nutrients, including taurine. If a cat isn’t getting the right nutrients, over time it will lead to health problems. 

And feed your cat portioned meals rather than 24/7 all-you-can eat buffet style. Cats are genetically programmed to eat many small meals throughout the day, so if you can swing it, provide at least three feeding times each day.

Also, make sure all or at least the majority of your cat’s food is wet food, instead of dry kibble. A kibble heavy diet becomes especially problematic as cats move from their prime adult years and into their senior years.

Cats also need to be drinking water every day - in addition to hydration they get from wet food. Make sure you have a system for water intake that your cat is bought into (some cats are picky about where it’s located and what it’s in). 

3. Maintain a healthy weight for your cat

There are a number of health complications that often develop as a result of obesity in cats. And some studies have shown that cats maintaining a healthy weight live significantly longer than overweight cats.

So again, give multiple proportioned meals each day rather than open feeding. It’s also really important to optimize your home for your cat with opportunities to climb and play. Try to build a daily routine that includes at least 10 minutes of prey-play with your fuzzy feline pal.

4. Keep up with vaccines and vet visits

Feline HIV and leukemia are a danger even for indoor cats if they escape or encounter an infected cat through a window screen. 

Many health problems in cats go on for a while before they get bad enough for their owners to notice anything. But they are often detected much earlier when vet visits are regular, making early intervention possible - sometimes, adding years to a cat's life.