Cat nearly triples nine lives

If someone told Cathy May 10 years ago that her cat, Dinker, would be alive today, she would have thought he was crazy.

Dinker was already 16 years old a decade ago, and that’s a long life for a cat.

But, to everyone’s surprise, the orange cat with the short tail is still around.

And he has most of the spunk and energy he always had.

“He’s been like an angel sent to me,” May said.

Dinker turns 26 this month.

The oldest living cat is a 36-year-old Tabby in Texas, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

May isn’t sure whether Dinker is the oldest cat in Craig, but he has to be close.

Ron Kruczek, a veterinarian at High Country Veterinary Clinic, said for a cat to live to 26 is similar to a person living to be about 105.

The oldest cat Kruczek said he ever saw was 24.

In 1999, May thought Dinker had cancer and wouldn’t survive.

A veterinarian pulled an abscessed tooth from Dinker and told May that the cat might have oral cancer.

At 19, May figured the cat had lived a good life, and she was ready to put him down if he had the disease.

The vet told her to bring Dinker in when he stopped eating and that the cat would be put to sleep.

Now, seven years after the only medical scare in the cat’s life, Dinker is still eating.

May isn’t sure exactly what day her cat was born, but she celebrates Dinker’s birthday in April.

“After so many years, I was like, let’s pick a month,” May said.

She chose April because that’s when her birthday is.

The only signs of age on Dinker are tired eyes and a saggy belly.

When he was a kitten, Dinker jumped from couch to couch.

“He used to just climb the walls,” May said.

Once in a blue moon, Dinker still will sprint around the house and jump on the furniture, May said.

Even in his old age, the cat isn’t scared to tussle with other animals.

Dinker plays with May’s 5-month-old pit bull, Rocky, and isn’t scared to fight with the puppy if he has to.

The cat isn’t scared to rumble with neighborhood cats, either, May said.

“He cannot stand the strays,” she said.

When May’s neighbor gave Dinker to her in 1980, she never thought she would have him for 26 years.

But the cat has outlived eight of May’s dogs and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

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