Ozzie the cat was found in County Armagh and picked up by the local Cats Protection centre as a stray.
When his microchip was checked, they were shocked to find he had been registered in Australia - 10,500 miles away - as Tigger in 2000.
It also revealed he had been born in 1989, making him 25 years old. The average age of a cat is around 15 years.
Volunteers are unable to explain how the intrepid traveller, described as "a gentle affectionate cat", wound up in Northern Ireland.
It is possible he was taken to London by his owner, where he was seen by a vet clinic in 2004 as a stray, before somehow crossing the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland.
Gillian McMullen, co-ordinator of the Armagh Branch of Cats Protection, said she was called by a member of the public who was worried about a "poorly stray cat that had been hanging around her garden for several days".
She said: "The poor cat was starving but obviously had been cared for in the past because it was wearing a collar."
He was then taken to a vet clinic in Portadown where the microchip was checked and the mystery of Ozzie the travelling cat was born.
The rescue centre has now launched an international appeal to find out more about Ozzie and return him to his original owner and Ms McMullen says the staff have their "paws crossed".
The Cats Protection's post on Facebook has been shared almost 12,000 times.
Time is running out, however, as Ozzie is on a drip as his kidneys are failing.
Story and source: Sky
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