Retired Point Loma attorney Sharron Voorhees, 73, has owned two tortoiseshell cats named Tiffany.
Tiffany One died of cancer after less than a year of ownership. Tiffany Two, whom Voorhees bought years later and named after Tiffany One (whom she strongly resembles), just turned 27 this March 13.
That makes Tiffany Two the world’s oldest living cat, the equivalent of more than 125 human years, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Proud to be the owner of such a prestigious pussy, Voorhees, who also owns two dogs and two other cats, recounted how she first acquired Tiffany Two.
“I stopped at a pet shop in Miramar to buy some food,” she explained, “and there was a big sign that said, ‘We’re going out of business at 5 p.m.’ It was 4 p.m. There was this tortoiseshell cat that was almost identical to my first Tiffany, and I thought, ‘I wonder what will happen if nobody buys her.’”
Voorhees then drove home, which took about 20 minutes.
“I had to turn around,” Voorhees said. “I got back to the pet shop at five minutes to 5 p.m., and I plunked down $10, and that’s how Tiffany came to live with me. That was 27 years ago, and I’ve always said, ‘That’s the best $10 I’ve ever spent.’”
Voorhees claims she hasn’t done anything special with her kitty, whom she noted has “eaten Whiskas all her life, mostly the dry, but in recent years, the moist, too.”
“She’s a good eater,” added Voorhees. “I had to laugh. She still crunches the dry food, which means her teeth are still good.”
Tiffany Two has always been an outdoor cat but is kept indoors now due to her age. But she still gets out, much to Voorhees’ surprise.
“She got out about four months ago,” Voorhees said, “and I was desperate to find her, which I did in my next-door neighbor’s yard. She had scaled a six-foot fence. She jumped back over the fence and looked at me like I had lost my mind. I was astonished.”
When she learned she was the owner of the world’s oldest known cat, Voorhees’ only response was to reply, “I never thought my 15 minutes of fame would come through like that.”
Noting Tiffany Two would fit right in at Hogwarts Academy of the Harry Potter book series because her colors are “Halloweeny,” Voorhees noted her elderly cat gets along just fine with her other animals as long as they respect her “space.”
“She has her special spot, which right now is the very exact middle of the staircase,” said Voorhees. “She’s the matriarch. The other animals just walk around or jump over her. She’s OK with that.”
Voorhees said she feels lucky because both Tiffanys, and all the other cats she’s had, “have all been very affectionate and loving.
“I’ve never had a snooty cat,” Voorhees said, adding, “I don’t believe all that stuff about cats being hard to get along with.”