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Wednesday, August 26, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Sisters is home to oldest living cat
By Jodi schneider McNamee
Correspondent
Corduroy, a 26-year-old
cat, born on August 1, 1989,
has spent most of his life
roaming the countryside of
Sisters. On Thursday, August
13, he was declared the old-
est living cat in the world by
Guinness World Records.
Sisters Country offers
plenty of space for a cat to
roam — and so does the 160-
acre ranch where Corduroy
and his pet parent Ashley
Reed Okura grew up.
Okura was 6 years old
when she and her 5-year-old
brother, Ryan Reed, picked
out kittens from a litter. She
named her kitten Corduroy,
after her favorite children’s
book, and he named his
Batman.
According to Wikipedia,
the average life expectancy of
a house cat is 12 to 15 years.
Batman lived to the ripe old
age of 19 and Corduroy just
keeps on purring.
“Ryan and I both wanted
kittens after watching ‘Lady
and the Tramp,’ but since
there weren’t any available
Siamese, my mom found
another litter where we both
picked out kittens,” said
Okura. “My sister, Brittany,
was only 1 at the time.”
Guinness World Records
doesn’t fool around when it
comes to having the right doc-
umentation to prove the true
age of the world’s oldest liv-
ing cat. It takes a vast amount
of documentary evidence to
ensure that the age is recorded
accurately.
“It took a lot of documents
to prove Corduroy’s age
but luckily, I had veterinary
records from his first checkup
and photos of us growing up
together,” Okura told The
Nugget.
Corduroy claimed the title
after previous record-holder,
Tiffany Two, passed away.
Tiffany Two lived to be 27
years, two months and 20
days.
“Corduroy is laid back,
very charming and friendly.
He loves all the extra atten-
tion he’s been getting lately,”
Okura said.
Okura moved around a lot
after graduating from Sisters
High School in 2000, but tried
to keep Corduroy with her at
all times.
“He lived with me in
Portland when I attended the
Art Institute of Portland. I
graduated with a degree in
interior design,” she recalled.
Corduroy travels pretty
well and he loves to fly. He
even has a pet-approved air-
line carrier when he accompa-
nies Okura on a plane.
The handsome feline
has always been an outdoor
cat during the day, but kept
indoors at night because of
coyotes and other predators.
“I believe that part of
Corduroy’s success for his
longevity is allowing him
to be a cat with his natural
instincts. He loves being out-
doors on 160 acres, it’s his
territory, it gives him enough
exercise and then there’s that
extra protein from hunting
critters,” said Okura. “Mice
are his favorite.”
Growing up, Corduroy’s
normal diet wasn’t anything
special.
“For the last four years
he’s been on a special pre-
scription diet for renal health
to make sure his kidneys keep
up their function,” Okura
said. “And for the past few
years I’ve gotten his blood-
work done to make sure his
levels are balanced.”
Corduroy gets regular
checkups with Dr. Carl Berg
at Sisters Veterinary Clinic.
Last November Okura got
married. She met her hus-
band, Aaron, during a seminar
in California four years ago.
photo by Jodi schneideR McnaMee
Ashley Reed okura and Corduroy, the oldest known living cat.
“Aaron lives in Salt Lake
City and now Corduroy and I
live there part of the time as
well, but we will all be mov-
ing to the ranch in Sisters
full-time in the near future,”
Okura said.
The Sisters ranch remained
in the family after her parents,
Bill and Jan Reed, died in an
airplane crash 10 years ago.
“Corduroy has been
through all of my life’s major
events, and I feel blessed he is
still healthy and enjoying life.
We hope to continue to give
him a good life for years to
come,” said Okura.
Move over, Grumpy Cat,
because Corduroy has his
own Facebook page under
Corduroy Reed and you can
also follow him on Instagram
@oldestlivingcat.