By Dale Huffman e-mail address: dale_huffman@coxohio.com Dayton Daily News

He's a black cat with white markings under his neck that make him look like he's wearing a tuxedo, and he just celebrated his 25th birthday.

Cats are famous for having nine lives, but even so, they seldom have longevity of the kind this Miamisburg cat named DC has enjoyed.

"It is amazing," said his owner Debbie Garland, a mail carrier. "Our veterinarian tells us this is pretty darn rare."

Stephanie Smith of the Montgomery County Animal Shelter has said that an indoor cat who is cared for lives an average of about 14 years. Outdoor cats and strays have a much shorter life span.

DC was named after the star of the 1960s Disney movie That Darn Cat, Debbie said. "He was just a baby when I rescued him as the last in a litter of four black kittens. I got him soon after I moved out of my family home to go on my own 25 years ago. Since that time he has been with me through everything."

That included a hiatus of a little more than three years and then a remarkable homecoming.

"In 1987, he turned up missing," Debbie recalls. "We looked everywhere. But it was like he just faded into nothing."

Debbie, 46, got married and moved to a new home, and then in March of 1991, a scraggly black cat with the white markings showed up on the porch of Debbie's old home on Central Avenue in Miamisburg. A former neighbor recognized DC and called Debbie, who came and retrieved her long-lost pet.

"It was like a miracle," she said. "I could hardly believe it. He was skinny so I think he had walked a long way to get home. But we had a happy reunion and it didn't take long to fatten him up."

Debbie and her husband, Greg Garland, a Montgomery County employee, have spoiled DC, she said.

"He is still in fairly good health, but I notice he is beginning to lose some hair," she said. "He still looks up with those loving yellow eyes and steals your heart. He has lots of character, and if he wants something he'll let you know about it."

When a son was born five years ago, the Garlands named him David Christopher, so he could share the same initials as DC the family cat.

"David and DC are buddies," Debbie said. "When David was a small baby and would cry, DC would come and sit close and look up as if to comfort him. To this day, he hardly lets David out of sight."

Earlier this week, the Garland family had a birthday party for DC. "We opened a can of tuna fish and put a birthday candle in it," Debbie said. "We sang Happy Birthday and DC acted like he didn't know what to make out of it. But he ate the tuna. It's a favorite."

[From the Dayton Daily News: 09.06.2002]

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2002

Answers

I hope I am that lucky...my Queen..LC...(Lap Cat) will be 15 this coming spring, but I see signs of aging in her..she is a real bitch, and she used to rule unchalleneged, not she is challened and backs down....breaks my heart somedays, but she is still active.

then butch is 10 this yr. Ithe one with the shot off leg)

the rest or in groups of 6, and 8 yrs old.

the dog is 9, and really showing her age.

and the boys are 15 and 13 and 12..still lots of life in them!

I can get weepy just thinking of the "good bye" times..so I don;t think about it often, only when I have to!

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2002