The oldest Maine Coon ever?!

I think this ginger-and-white tabby Maine Coon called Rubble who died aged 31 last summer might well have been the oldest Maine Coon ever. The Sun newspaper claimed that he was the world's oldest domestic cat at the time. That's about 150 in human terms but the translation from feline to human age is not that accurate.

Rubble was he the oldest Maine Coon ever at 31 when he died last summer? Photo: WNS:South West News Service

Remarkably Michele Heritage adopted Rubble when he was already 20! She said that he was an amazing cat companion and that he grew old quickly at the very end of his life.

She treated him as a child. One day she came back from work and her husband told her that Rubble had gone off to die.

As is typical of the last moments of a domestic who is dying of natural causes Rubble stopped eating. She knew it was the time he'd die. It is unusual for a domestic cat to die at home. Normally the owner takes their cat to a veterinarian to be euthanised as there will usually be a chronic illness which has ended the cat's life such as kidney disease, a very common end of life feline disease.

Rubble was not far short of the all time record held by Creme Puff who died at 38. Michele thinks Rubble lived so long because he was pampered. It is more likely to be his genes.

We are not told how Michele knew that her cat was a Maine Coon. He looks a bit like one but not markedly so. He looks like he could have been a large random bred cat to be honest but this is not to denigrate Rubble or Michele. It is simply an observation. 

You really need documentary evidence that a cat is a Maine Coon (a pedigree) to be sure. Just saying that your cat is a purebred cat because you were told that is not really enough unless the cat is very much to type i.e. a typical Maine Coon appearance.