Rubble, ‘The Oldest Cat In The World,’ Has Passed Away

Cats have 9 lives, as the old saying goes. But Rubble, an English cat who just passed away at age 31, clearly had 9 lives — and then some.

Rubble’s owner, Michele Heritage, attributed the Maine Coon’s unusually long lifespan to his pampered position as her only fur baby, which – in a household without kids or other pets – made Rubble the center of her world for many years. “I have always treated him like a child,” she said, according to People. “If you care about something, no matter what it is, it does last.”

Photo: Facebook/City Vets, Exeter

Heritage got Rubble on her 20th birthday, when she was living alone for the first time. “He was an amazing companion that I had the pleasure to live with for such a long time,” she recalled. “I was lonely living on my own, so I got him in as a kitten.”

We first wrote about Rubble in 2018, when the then-30-year-old cat was celebrating his 30th birthday, which you can see in the video below. At the time, Heritage described Rubble as relatively healthy, but getting “grumpy” in his old age. Regardless, the crabby cat would go on to become the world’s oldest living feline after he celebrated his 31st birthday.

But Rubble’s health deteriorated “very quickly toward the end,” according to his owner, who could tell her cat wouldn’t make it until his 32nd birthday in May. “I said to my husband at Christmas that I think it would be last we spend with Rubble,” she recalled, remembering how Rubble had suddenly stopped eating, drank only water, and had grown very thin. “He was a creature of habit,” she said. “[he] had his favorite places to sleep and liked his food, so when that stopped happening, we knew.”

One day, Heritage came home from work to find that Rubble had disappeared. “I went to work as usual, and when I got home my husband said Rubble had gone over the road as he did every day and never came back,” she said, “so we believe he went off to die as cats do.”

RIP, Rubble. We’re so sorry for your loss!