--- title: The World's Oldest Cat Is Poppy, a 24-Year-Old Tortoiseshell description: Poppy is a 24-year-old tortoiseshell cat in England who was just named the world's oldest cat. The secret is diet and exercise. canonical: https://time.com/106148/the-worlds-oldest-cat-is-24-and-eats-kfc/ author: Kyle Chayka article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-20T18:22:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:49.811Z og:title: Meet the World's Oldest Cat og:description: He's 24 and eats KFC og:url: https://time.com/106148/the-worlds-oldest-cat-is-24-and-eats-kfc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the World's Oldest Cat twitter:description: He's 24 and eats KFC twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The World’s Oldest Cat Is 24 and Eats KFC by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka May 20, 2014 6:22 PM UTC by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka May 20, 2014 6:22 PM UTC The average cat lives just a dozen or so years, and Poppy, a tortoiseshell cat in England, is twice that old. The cat was just named the world’s oldest feline at the [ripe old age of 24](https://news.yahoo.com/world-s-oldest-cat--poppy-the-tortoiseshell-from-bournemouth-is--feline--her-age-163446848.html). > [](https://twitter.com/theradiophantom/status/468805511404867584) What happens when you live double your species’ lifespan? Well, Poppy is blind and deaf, but she’s still pretty active, says her adoptive mother Marguerite Corner. And what’s her secret? “I guess she has a good diet and lots of exercise,” Corner says. But every diet needs some treats: “We sometimes give her a bit of KFC chicken, fish and chips and even the odd bit of kebab meat.” Another key to longevity is not letting anyone mess with your turf. “Poppy is definitely the top cat and she is still quite feisty,” says Corner’s daughter Jacqui. “If one of the other cats tries to eat her food she will bite them on the ear.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/106148/the-worlds-oldest-cat-is-24-and-eats-kfc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/106148/the-worlds-oldest-cat-is-24-and-eats-kfc/"},"headline":"The World’s Oldest Cat Is 24 and Eats KFC","datePublished":"2014-05-20T18:22:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:49.811Z","description":"That's twice a cat's normal lifespan","url":"https://time.com/106148/the-worlds-oldest-cat-is-24-and-eats-kfc/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Aging","Pets","cats"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kyle Chayka","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/106148/the-worlds-oldest-cat-is-24-and-eats-kfc/","name":"The World’s Oldest Cat Is 24 and Eats KFC"}}]}] ```