A much-loved moggy called Rosie, believed to be the oldest cat in the world, has died at the ripe old age of 33.
The tortoise-shell walked into the hallway of her home in Norwich, Norfolk, lay down and passed away, said her devoted owner Lila Brissett, 73.
Rosie was born in 1991 and turned 33 on June 1, which in cat years is an extraordinary 152.
Lila never got around to registering her pet as officially the oldest in the world, but the current Guinness World Records holder, a cat called Flossie from Kent, is a mere 28 years old.
Heartbroken Lila, who adopted Rosie when she was a kitten, said: ‘I miss her so much.
‘She wasn’t very well and one day she just walked into the hallway of the house, laid down and passed away.
‘There were lots of good memories though and I’m happy we had our time together.’
Rosie became an indoor cat in her later years and her favourite pastimes were eating and sleeping.
She was particularly fond of napping by a window in Lila’s ground-floor flat and was fed Purina One cat food daily or she’d ‘kick up a fuss’.
Lila adopted Rosie after a cat rescue service approached her to say the kitten needed rehoming as her first owners realised their daughter was allergic.
Rosie’s mum was a grey rag doll – which gave Rosie her bushy squirrel tail – and her dad is believed to have been a ginger tom.
Speaking previously about her beloved pet, she said: ‘She’s quite a character.
‘Rosie sleeps by the window all day and, like clockwork, she will have some food and use the litter tray.
‘There’s no need for an alarm clock. All she does is eat, sleep, use the litter tray and repeat.
‘I often have to check if she’s still alive and breathing. I’m worried about the day she crosses over the rainbow bridge. She’ll leave a big void.
‘I’ll miss her when she goes. But I’ll never have her put down.’
A spokeswoman from Guinness World Records encouraged Lila to send in an application for Rosie for them to review last year – but she never got around to filling it in.
The oldest cat ever is Creme Puff of Austin, Texas, who was born on August 3, 1967 and lived until August 6, 2005 – 38 years and three days.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
