A commonly-used age conversion calculation of seven human years to every cat year put Tigerli - which means little tiger - at a staggering 175 [human equivalent] years old when she died. However, despite her advanced years, she had always remained "the cat with the most attitude I've ever known", owner Helen Wreford-Dunbar said.
Allied Press community newspaper The Lakes District and Central Otago News caught up with Tigerli in February 2011, when she had arthritic joints, some kidney issues and "a bit of dementia sometimes", but was otherwise still going strong.
Her health had deteriorated since, though, and she had "neglected her appearance", Ms Wreford-Dunbar said.
"She certainly did look old at the end."
While there had been "a few tears" shed, the death of Tigerli - a fine hunter - meant the "rabbits were smiling" at Ms Wreford-Dunbar and husband Bill's rural property, near Lowburn.
Wanaka vet Natasha Dawes said Tigerli was the oldest cat she had heard of in New Zealand and while it was not uncommon for cats to reach 20 years of age, it was "rare" to see one reach 25, particularly an outdoor cat.
"They start dying from old age between 10 and 12, usually[from] renal failure."
Tigerli's old-age stacks up well against other feline record-holders.
After running a nationwide search for New Zealand's oldest cat in late 2009, Purina PetCare New Zealand announced the winner was 24-year-old Smokey, a blue Burmese from Auckland. Purina was unsure when contacted yesterday if Smokey was still alive.
Guinness World Records certifies the world's oldest living cat as 22-year-old Pinky in the United States, although it also notes the oldest ever recorded cat was Creme Puff, who died in Texas in 2005 aged 38.
