World’s Oldest Living Cat (27 Year-Old)

Owner Sharron Voorhees tells TIME that devotion is the secret to 27-year-old Tiffany Two’s longevity

On March 13, Tiffany Two, the world’s oldest living cat, will turn 27 years old — the equivalent of 125 human years, according to Guinness World Records.

Sharron Voorhees, 73, holds her cat Tiffany Two, the oldest living cat in the world

The orange-and-black tortoiseshell spends her days sleeping in the middle of the staircase at her home in San Diego, Calif., where she lives with two other cats, 9 and 10 years old respectively.

On the eve of Tiffany Two’s birthday, owner Sharron Voorhees, 73, reminisces about the day in 1988 when she saw the cat at a pet shop that was going out of business. It was the same breed as her old cat Tiffany, which died of cancer in the early 70s. She drove home, but couldn’t stop thinking about it, so she went back to the pet store and bought the cat.

“I’ve always said that was the best $10 I ever spent,” she tells TIME.

She adds that while the 27 year old is “very docile” nowadays, she has a feisty side. When asked if Tiffany Two has always gotten along with other cats, Voorhees said:

She had sex appeal, man, I tell ya. The boys liked her, even if she was fixed. Once there was a kitten across the street, and he was just smitten with her. She was 13. He would race across the street to see her when they let him out. Man, it was a real Harold and Maude sort of thing.

Voorhees will be throwing a birthday party for Tiffany Two on Saturday, serving up cupcakes with little fish decorations on top, goldfish crackers, liver mousse, plus champagne for the human guests.

She claims the cat, which barely weighs six pounds, is in good health: “We take our blood pressure medications every day together. She’s probably in better shape than I am.”

But why has this cat lived so long? “Oh gosh, I don’t know,” Voorhees says. “She has just been so devoted to me. She would drool when I would stroke her. Sometimes I think she just doesn’t want to leave me.”