Cat, 27, may be Britain's oldest

ST. AUSTELL, England, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- An English family says their 27-year-old cat is believed to be the oldest living feline in Britain and may be the oldest living cat in the world.

Donna Thorne, 33, of St. Austell and her husband Chris, 51, said they obtained the cat, named Mischief, as a kitten in 1981 and he is still very active for an elderly pet, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

"In cat years he must be over 100. It's amazing; he just keeps going on and on," Donna Thorne said.

"He may be 27 but he still manages to jump over the stair gate and he's round your ankles constantly for food," she said. "He's an indoor cat now, and he's losing big clumps of fur, but he's still going."

A Guinness World Records spokesman said the group has no knowledge of any living cat with more years under its collar. The company said the last cat to hold the title of Britain's oldest died in 2001 at the age of 29. Donna Thorne said she and her family are researching to find whether there are any older cats still living in Britain to challenge Mischief for the title.

The oldest cat on record lived for 38 years and three days with its owner in Austin, Texas, the Daily Mail said.