Owen, A Silver Spring Resident, Is One Of The Oldest Cats In Montgomery County

SILVER SPRING, MD — Karolyn Kaelin has been living with Owen for about 21 years. They first met through Kaelin’s coworker, back when she lived in Denver. They moved to the D.C. area together a few years later, into a one-bedroom apartment. That was a tough transition for a little while, Kaelin said, because Owen was used to being in a house with plenty of room to move.

That’s important because Owen is a tabby cat, and one of the oldest known cats living in Montgomery County, according to the county’s record.

Owen has been by Kaelin’s side for much of her adult life. She was 30 when a coworker said she had an elderly relative who needed to give up their young kitten. Kaelin was familiar with cats — she actually had one already, named Princess. That cat and Owen lived with her until Princess died when she was 12. Kaelin and Owen now know each other like the back of their hand (or paw).

“Well Owen is really unique because over the last 21 years, he and I have developed our own little language to be able to communicate with each other,” said Kaelin. “I mean people would laugh but I say he does understand English because there's maybe, I would say there's like 15 or 20 phrases that I say he understands.”

Kaelin said it’s not so much that he understands them, but these are words he’s heard over and over again. Some of the words he knows are “huggies” — that means he climbs up on her shoulder and is cradled there — or “turn on blanket,” which is the heated blanket he likes to lay on to relax. Kaelin also puts a blanket down near her glass door so Owen can sit comfortably and look out.

Owen wasn’t always as affectionate as he is now. Kaelin says he was a bit aggressive in the middle of his life, and thinks his limited living space may have had something to do with it. Now, as a senior cat, he’s mellowed.

Kaelin and Owen also live with Kaelin’s boyfriend now. Both work for the federal government and live in Silver Spring. As Owen has aged, he isn’t able to do all of the things he used to. Kaelin clips his nails (she's always done this, but his scratching posts have been seeing less action as he's aged) and buys him prescription food. When she started working from home last year, Owen took to laying in her lap for the whole workday.

“I've been taking care of him like he’s a little baby for 21 years,” said Kaelin. “It's like a baby and an elderly person all in one because he just relies on me so much, but a lot of the stuff that I have to do for him, you would associate with an older person.”

If Owen wants more attention, he knows what to do.

“He does this funny thing — we call it herding because he's like a herding cat,” said Kaelin. “When he wants us to go and sit on the sofa with him, he tries to herd us down stairs to the sofa. It's really cute.”

As Charles Dicken once asked, “What greater gift than the love of a cat?”