世界最長壽狗喜慶26歲生日
Max, the world's oldest dog, has celebrated his 26th birthday. In dog years the terrier-cross is 182, the equivalent of being born in 1827. He lives in Louisiana in the United States of America.
"I never spoiled Max," said his owner Janelle Derouen. "I've never fed him anything but Kiddles and Bits [brand of dog food] and a few treats like those beefy doggy bones.
"We don't give him any food from our table," added Janelle, 49, who lives with her husband Billy, also 49, in New Iberia.
Max, who is greying, has a veterinary birth certificate to prove his age and is awaiting official confirmation from Guinness World Records.
Janelle and Billy bought Max from a local sugar cane farmer in 1983. "He was the only one in the litter that was brown and I liked the colour so I took him home," said Janelle. Max has been visiting the same vet since birth at the Robichaux Veterinary Clinic in New Iberia.
Until recently it was believed that Chanel, a geriatric Daschund-cross from New York was the oldest dog alive but Chanel, who turned 21 in May, is a full five years junior to Max.
Chanel is riddled with health problems, struggling desperately to see, walk and hear.
But Max is still in fine health and only suffers from mild arthritis and some cataracts. His secret, says Janelle, is not worrying about anything at all.
"He's a very, very laid back dog," said Janelle. "He likes to lie down, relax, nap, sleep a lot and keep life simple. He'll play with the kids for a bit but if they bother him too long he'll wander off.
"He doesn't have any fancy toys, just a bit of rope and a regular squeaky ball."
Janelle and Billy held a special birthday party for Max on Sunday.
"We spoiled him just a little bit that once," said Janelle.
世界最長壽的狗馬克斯剛剛過完26歲生日。按狗齡計算，生活在美國路易斯安那州的這條雜交犬已有182歲高齡了，相當於1827年出生。
狗主人詹妮爾•德勞恩說：“我從不溺愛馬克斯。除了Kiddles和Bits這兩個牌子的狗糧外，從不餵它其它吃的，偶爾犒勞它一下，比如賞它幾根肉比較多的骨頭啃啃。”
現年49歲的詹妮爾還說：“我們從不給它從飯桌上拿吃的。”她的丈夫比利也是49歲，他們生活在新伊比利亞市。
馬克斯毛髮呈灰色，他的動物出生證明足以證明它的年齡。目前馬克斯正等待吉尼斯世界紀錄的官方確認。
1983年，詹妮爾和比利在一名甘蔗農手中買下了馬克斯。詹妮爾說：“那一窩小狗中，只有馬克斯是棕色的。我喜歡棕色，所以我把它帶回了家。”馬克斯自從在新伊比利亞羅比查烏克斯獸醫診所出生後，就一直看同一名獸醫。
今年5月，紐約年邁的雜交臘腸犬“香奈爾”迎來21歲生日。直到最近，人們還認爲香奈爾是當世最長壽的狗。但香奈爾整整比馬克斯小5歲。
香奈兒一直受健康問題困擾，視力、行動能力和聽覺都嚴重衰退。
但馬克斯仍然身強體壯，只患有輕微的關節炎和白內障。詹妮爾稱它的長壽祕訣就是萬事不操心。
詹妮爾說：“它過得實在是太悠哉了，喜歡躺着，休息，打盹，昏睡，過簡單的生活。它也會和孩子們玩一會兒，但如果煩它太久，它就跑開了。”
“它也沒什麼有趣的玩具，只有一根繩子和一個常會吱吱響的球。”
詹妮爾和比利在上週日爲馬克斯舉辦了一場別開生面的生日宴會。
詹妮爾說：“和以往相比，我們對它有一點兒溺愛。”
vocabulary:
litter：a number of young brought forth by a multiparous animal at one birth（一胎生下的小崽）
geriatric：of or pertaining to geriatrics, old age, or aged persons（衰老的）
laid back：free from stress; easygoing（懶洋洋的，悠閒的）
