Were moggies tougher in 'the old day's?

[FantasticBadger]

Prompted by the thread on feeding kittens Whiskas, I was thinking about our cats that the family had when I was growing up. All kittens that local families found in their garden shed, we adopted them and fed them Whiskas or Kitekat mixed with water and the heel of good old fashioned brown bread (cottage loaf type thing) all smushed up with water. Fed twice a day, no kibble. Our cats lived to on average age 20 and I can't remember any vet visits apart from the final kindness. We're doggies in the early 70s tougher? I have 2 pampered mogs on expensive food now ...

[FantasticBadger]

Please pardon the spare apostrophe in the title!

[FantasticBadger]

Agh, auto correct mistakes all over the place!

[SushiMonster]

Probably there was a bit more natural selection at play - kittens of surviving mousers.

Kittens/cats with ill health would have died rather than treated for years.

Now more people buy pedigree cats who have been selected down the line for their fluffy coat (or whatever) not their health and mousing ability.

[Grumpyoldpersonwithcats]

I've always had moggies and they have always been low maintenance. However my personal experience is that they do seem to last a bit longer now than 30 odd years ago. 13/14 seemed to be a good age then with kidney failure being the normal cause of death. My last old boy however lived to 20 and his brother to 17. They eat normal food (Felix) and shrews.
I do suspect that cat food may have got a bit healthier over the years (less salt?).
I also do recognise that everything I've said here is circumstantial and proves nothing

[FantasticBadger]

Thank you for replying - I do think natural selection and tougher breeds come into it. Our cats love bringing in micè and shrews too Grumpy - or rather half a mouse (yuk)

[viccat]

Maybe it's a bit like some people live to an old age with quite an unhealthy lifestyle but for most of us it's best to try to keep as healthy as we can? (My grandmother smoked all her life and lived into her late 80s but I still wouldn't recommend smoking as a healthy habit for example!)

Certainly a high protein diet makes sense for cats as that's what they would naturally eat rather than grains and sugars.

[Dollymixture22]

My childhood cat was very much loved. She was fed whiskas and leftovers. She was often turfed outside all day - with access to the garage. She waited at the top of the street for us after school and walked home with us.


My kitten is only allowed outside when supervised. When she is older she will have a micro chip operated cat flap which I can monitor from a phone on my app. She has a motion sensor operated food dish to keep her food moist. I pop the heating on for her during the day and only keep her grain free high meat content food.

I look back and feel guilty for not taking better care of kitty number one. But looking back she had a long, healthy and happy life.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Average life expectancy of cats had dramatically increased from 12/13 to 16/17 in the last twenty years.
The healthcare of cats has dramatically changed in that time when I graduated in 1998 feline medicine was in it's infancy at that time in fact the Royal Vet College had only had a 'cat ward ' for 6 months. Then has been an increase in investigation into feline illness that has fuelled developments of new treatment. For example hyperthyroidism was treated off licence with a human product now days there are three licensed medications, surgical options, a diet option and radioactive iodine.
Acromegaly was this disease that we thought occurred in a tiny proportion of cats, there was no good test and we couldn't treat it. Now we recognise that 25% of diabetic cats actually have acromegaly and if you can afford or have good insurance your cat can have brain surgery to remove the tumour causing it and it's diabetes which is secondary will be cured.
These developments combined with the roles of cats in our life's means that elderly cats are actively diagnosed and treated rather than just being euthanised.

[Dollymixture22]

Lonecateithkitten thank you - that’s really interesting.

My cat dies from hyperthyroidism twenty tears ago. I remember my mum getting medication from the vets and eventually there was an unsuccessful surgery, then she was pts.

It’s heartening to know that if my kitten devolls the condition now there are better treatments available.