April 3, 2008 -- The stories, "Tina, the world's tallest horse dies","World's Taller than the Tallest horse lives (in Australia)", "America's oldest cat dies". We have pictures.

NIOTA, Tenn. - Tina, the world's tallest horse, has died from natural causes, according to owners Jim and Marge Williams.

The 4-year-old Shire had been taken in March to Auburn University in Alabama from the couple's Niota farm to have a leg problem corrected by surgery but for some unknown reason, went down and died 30-hours later.

"That horse was so special," a tearful Jim Williams said. "She just laid down and never got up."

He said they gave her intravenous feeding, and veterinarians at the school tried to treat her.

The Williamses had Tina transported to the Auburn veterinary school three weeks ago in a special temperature controlled van with video cameras monitoring her.

Upon arrival at the school, she was standing and eating and appeared "to be fine," Williams said.

They are waiting results of a necropsy, but have donated the horse's skeletal structure to the school for study. They were awaiting those results before making an official announcement, but said the word got out about the death.

Tina had been declared the world's tallest horse in 2007 by the Guinness Book of World Records after an official measuring by a local veterinarian. Some 1,000 people witnessed the measuring at Springbrook Inn, home of Tina and several other Shire horses.

She measured 80-inches tall at the withers, breaking a record by one inch that was held by a Texas horse.

Niota Mayor Martha Walden was a witness and often visited the horse at her stall.

"We have all been in grief," she said. "It is a sad day for the entire area. We all really got attached to that horse."

Sitting in the Springbrook Inn's stable, Williams looked toward the large empty stall where Tina spent most of her days and remembered a horse that craved attention.

"It just doesn't seem the same here anymore," he said.

Williams was with the horse when she died, and was talking to his wife at the time. Marge Williams prefers not to speak about the death.

The couple has two Shire horses at their farm, but Williams said he may try to purchase a sister of Tina.

The horse made history with stories about her running in papers throughout the world, and she was the feature of a Japanese documentary.

She will still be listed as the tallest horse in the world, but not of a living horse.

Luscombe Nordram

New world record for biggest horse

A colossal shire horse in Australia has been proclaimed the biggest horse in the world by its owner, beating the current Guinness World Record by several inches.

The giant five-year-old, from Pakenham, S.E Australia, measures a staggering 20.1 hands, or 2.057m tall. He weighs over 1.3 tonnes (1300kg) - about the same as a small car - and is still growing.

His owner, horse trainer Jane Greenman, 47, says the only time the lumbering beast runs is when there is food on offer.

"It sounds like a mountain moving when he gallops across the paddock to come and get his breakfast," she says. "He eats an incredible amount. I would hate to run a team of eight horses his size - it would send you broke."

Mounting the horse is no easy task, either. "We have to use a ladder to get on top of him, or swing off a tree," says Jane.

The massive horse, whose full name is Luscombe Nordram, was born in Australia to a mare and sire imported from England. Noddy's grandfather, Ladbrooke Edward (UK) was the world's tallest horse during the 1980's.

But Jane had no idea that the foal she hand-reared from the age of six months would grow this big. Noddy immediately began to rocket and soon overtook both his parents in size.

"Every year I measure him on his birthday and we discovered that he was getting really huge."

Although she says that she is not interested in the Guiness Book of Records, nevertheless Jane has carried out her own research and is sure that Noddy comes top.

"The nearest is a horse in Texas, at 20 hands," says Jane.

"Noddy is already an inch taller than that. The scary thing is he still hasn't finished - shire horses aren't fully grown until they're about six or seven".

Baby, America's Oldest Cat

March 28, 2008 -- Duluth, MN -- On a sad note tonight, America's oldest cat has passed away.

Baby the Cat was 38 years old and was named America's oldest feline by "Cat Fancy" magazine last year.

Owners Al and Mary Palusky of Duluth rescued the black kitten from a garbage can back in 1970.

Al says he considered getting the cat in the Guinness Book of World Records but the verification process required veterinarian records that have long since been lost.