A VET wrote off Oliver's chances of survival when he was a scrawny-looking kitten.

Now his owners are celebrating his 29th birthday.

And that could make the ginger tom from Christchurch a world record breaker since Guinness World Records currently lists its oldest living cat as being a mere 24.

Owner Elisabeth Herbert remembers the day Oliver first invited himself into her home as a scrawny moggie way back in 1972.

"He came from a farm and when he arrived as a tiny kitten it was a very cold, very hard frosty morning," she said.

"I'd heard a cat miaowing for some time. Then I saw this heap in the garden covered in fleas and tics and in a really disgusting state.

"I was going to work and I plonked him in my kitchen, came back later and tried to clean him up," she said.

At the time Mrs Herbert had just adopted two cats from the RSPCA, but decided to keep Oliver as well.

"I took him to the vet, who told me: 'You're wasting your time'. That was a red rag to a bull. He had vitamin injections and antibiotics. I took him home, fed him brandy and milk and two days later he was shredding the curtains," she said.

In contrast to his shaky start as a youngster, Oliver has enjoyed an amazing run of good health as an adult and OAP.

Mrs Herbert says much of this is down to her current vet Emma Robinson, of Best Friends, in St Catherine's Hill, Christchurch, who has been giving Oliver his check-ups in recent years.

Oliver enjoys a comfortable old age with Mrs Herbert, her husband Nick and their 15-year-old daughter Annah and three other cats.

Oliver's longevity is no surprise to them, since one of their previous cats lived to 28.

"I think there's this signal that we can't see, but obviously strays do, because we lose one cat and another one arrives. I don't choose my cats, they just turn up. We usually have an average of four," said Mrs Herbert.

A spokeswoman from Guinness World Records said the book's editors would be interested in hearing from the Herberts.

The book currently lists 24-year-old Kataleena Lady, from Melbourne in Australia, as the oldest in the world.

But maybe there is something in the Dorset air because until recently it was a Bridport cat, Spike, who was said to be the oldest. He recently died at the age of 30 .

The oldest cats ever are thought to be female tabby Ma, who died in Devon in 1957, and champion show cat Grandpa Rex Allen of Texas, who died in 1998. Both reached a staggering 34 years of age.