Darwen cat, 25, could be Britain's oldest moggie (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen cat, 25, could be Britain's oldest moggie

11:00am Thursday 16th December 2010 in News By Catherine Pye, Reporter

TO owner Wayne Keough, tabby cat James Dean is the purr-fect pet – and has been for the past 25 years.

And now the much-loved family pet is in the running to be named Britain’s oldest moggie.

Mr Keough bought James and his sister Bo Derek from a friend when they were only weeks old.

Bo ran away only months later and was never seen again.

But James stayed loyal to Mr Keough, who owns the Sirloin in Hoghton, and over the past two decades has been a devoted pet.

The story could have been very different though, as he almost didn’t make it to 12 months after being hit by a car crossing the road.

But the metal pin in his left rear leg has never slowed James down, and Mr Keough said he was still as frisky as ever.

On Sunday, a couple in Leicestershire claimed their cat, Blackie, was Britain’s oldest, at 24.

Mr Keough said: “I was shopping in Manchester and kept getting texts and e-mails off friends asking me how old James was because of the article on Blackie.

"It’s a standing joke. So I called the vets to see what date is for the earliest record they have for James.

“Their computer system only goes back to an entry on January 17, 1986, and I think that was something to do with his road accident.

"He would have been about a year old then, so he will be almost 26.”

Staff at Springfield Veterinary Surgery in Duckworth Street, Darwen, are now scouring paper records for earlier entries relating to James.

Mr Keough, of Pickup Bank, Darwen, said: “At the time I got him, I was a young single lad and all my friends took the micky when I spent £1,000 on his leg operation.

"But I’ve never had to spend a penny on him since.

“He has slowed down in recent years and sleeps more, but if you haven’t fed him, you’ll soon know about it.

“Because we run the Sirloin in Hoghton, the chefs do him steak and maybe that’s the secret to his long life.

"It certainly hasn’t done him harm.”

He is now the equivalent of 121 in human years.

Mr Keough said he would now contact the Guinness Book of World Records, which has said there is no current holder of Britain’s oldest cat.