This fluffy feline is claimed to be the UK’s OLDEST rescue cat – and may likely have received the most rejections, having been turned down for rehoming 30,000 times.
Tilly is now 24 years old and has spent 21 years at a rescue facility.
Despite her advanced age, she is still on the lookout for her forever home.
After giving birth to kittens in 1995, the tortoiseshell puss was discovered and transferred to a refuge.
But she was never claimed because she was uninterested in potential owners, preferring instead to curl up and ignore the attention.
Tilly has spent more than two decades at the West Midlands Animal Welfare refuge, according to Joyce Clarke, who claims the now senior cat has a sweet personality and often tends for the center’s other felines.
Tilly has taken care of both blinds and paralyzed cats who have come into the shelter over the years and sees herself as a cat caretaker for her other charges, despite her inability to attract any possible owners.
Joyce, who is 62 years old, stated: “Nobody has expressed interest in adopting Tilly, and she is now at the point when rehoming her could be harmful to her health.
“Tilly has been passed over by more than 30,000 different people looking for a cat during her time at the shelter. They wanted a cat that would come over for a cuddle, and she didn’t match the description.
“She was about three years old when she arrived at the sanctuary, having given birth to a litter of kittens, but we were unable to find her a home.”
“She is probably Britain’s oldest rescue cat, at 24 years old, and I have never heard of one older in all the years I have been running an animal refuge.
“Tilly’s personality could be a bit tough, so I see why she wasn’t adopted, but she is wonderful with the other cats at the shelter and has taken care of a number of them herself.
“We’ve had paralyzed and blind cats come into our rescue center, and Tilly has truly taken them under her wing – we kept finding them sleeping with Tilly watching over them.”
“Tilly had given birth to kittens in a coal bunker in someone’s garden when she was discovered. She’d most likely been abandoned.
“Nobody wanted to adopt her because of her personality – she used to be a bit stroppy and would occasionally snap at people, but not anymore.
“We’ve maintained Tilly for all these years since she’s in wonderful health despite her age.”
“She can be grouchy at times, but she’s in good health.” She’s just had a couple of small issues.”
“The sanctuary has a policy of never euthanizing healthy animals, so if no one else wants to care for the cats, they will.
“We have a lot of senior cats, but Tilly is the oldest of them all.
“We knew cats might live a long time because we once had a cat that lived to be 23, but she was never as old as Tilly.”
