Tar Heel Traveler: North Carolina's oldest cat

Cali the cat looks almost like a kitten. She's on the small side, playful, and looks like she's padding around in a tuxedo. What a cutie! And an oldie. At 21, Cali might just be the oldest cat in all of North Carolina.

There is no cat-age database to check, but even her vet in Raleigh thinks it's possible she's the oldest, especially since a cat's typical lifespan is between 14 and 16. 

Cali's official papers list her birth date as 04-25-05. Her owner is Megan who was only 13 when she took baby Cali home from an animal shelter. Now all these years later, Megan has another baby, a son, and guess what her son's first word was. Well, it was something like "Cah," which could've been Cali or Cat, either one.

Megan and her husband Spencer describe Cali as loving--and occasionally sassy, even at 21. The vet says she's in remarkably good health, save for a little arthritis.

Megan and Spencer can't imagine life without their black-and-white bundle of fur--and their infant son probably can't, either.

The oldest cat in the state? Maybe. And who knows, at 21 years old and counting, one day she might become the oldest cat in the country!