How long do our cats live?

[worrisomeasset]

I think this is a most interesting infographic from the Royal Veterinary College. It says that the average lifespan of a ‘crossbreed’ (I assume they mean any non-pedigree moggy here) is 14 years while pedigrees live an average of 12.5 years. The difference is more stark with some breeds - Ragdolls have an average lifespan of 10.1 years while Bengals last on average a mere 7.3 years.

It’s possible, I think, that the situation for pedigrees is worse than these stats suggest. If we assume that most moggies are allowed outside while most pedigrees are indoor cats, then pedigrees are far less likely to die from traffic accidents. Despite their reduced risk of serious accidents, pedigrees still lead shorter lives.

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/media/default/vetcompass/infograms/150515%20how%20long%20do%20cats%20live%20-%20june2015.pdf

Here’s a very important sentence from the infographic. Ignore those pleading eyes and plaintive cries, your cat doesn’t need that extra snack!

“On average, a cat’s lifespan is reduced by 6 months for every 1 kg increase in adult bodyweight.”

Ours has lost a lot of weight since getting "old". She was always a fatty, no idea why, but she much smaller now although less active

Our moggy will be 18 this year. He’s blind and a bit bow legged (which we give him B12 for), but other than that he’s fighting fit.

He was an outdoor cat, but always was a bit of a lazy lump so he never ventured far. Nowadays he lies on the patio when the sun’s out, but that’s about it.

We’ve came to terms with the fact that we won’t have him for much longer. I know it’s better to PTS a week early than a day late, so I do keep a close eye on him for any signs he’s struggling.

Hi Velma.

My old man is 19 and bow legged.

Where do you get the B12 from please?

I've lost 2 moggies, the semi feral only lived till 12, she was tiny and feisty. The boy cat who was massive, lazy and very over weight, he had been kept in a top floor flat with an older lady who had over fed him, he lived until 20, we were all shocked!
My current moggy is almost 15, has nearly died many times, has a dodgy back leg and used up about 15 of her 9 lives is still going strong!

My mum had a bengal who lived until 17, they are not normal housecats and not for the faint hearted!

Both our dearly departed moggie girls, who both liked going outside, lived until 17 and 20 years of age. Both sadly passed away due to cancer. In my opinion, it's just the luck of the draw, how long a cat lives for.

When I first got into cat rescue I specialised in adopting oldies. I had loads in their 20s and quite a few got to 25. The oldest one I knew was 27. The owner had died and these two old girls came with all their vet papers dating back to the 80s. They were 23 and 25 when my friend adopted them and both lived another two years.

I give our thirteen year old Gimcat senior paste each day, it’s got b vitamins and joint support in it. She only eats wet food and I add water to it to keep her hydrated.

are there supplements you gi ve your cats to keep them feeling good?

Amazon! This one.

It was recommended on MN. I open up the capsule and sprinkle it in his food every second day.

More bad news for Bengals. A later study (2019) published by the Royal Veterinary College also found that Bengals had one of the shortest lifespans of the breeds that were studied. The breed that had the lowest lifespan was (to no-one’s great surprise) the Sphynx. While both studies showed that moggies have longer lifespans than pedigrees, they both found that Burmese and Birmans buck this trend by living longer than moggies.
The infographic for the study is here:
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/VetCompass/240505%20VetCompass%20Cat%20Lifetable%20Infogrpahic.pdf

Stats nerds can check out the full study here:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X241234556

Our rescue moggy was roughly 3 when we got him and he's 15 now. He's slowed down the last year and is on thyroid meds, has stuff in his water for his gums and sometimes has pain relief for arthritis flare ups. But he still potters around, eats well and has a very cosy life with us. I do think we'll probably have to keep an eye on him and maybe make a hard decision in the next couple of years, but he's had such a good life.

My grandad had 2 cats and one was almost 20 when she passed.

I had two cats growing up. One died on the road age 6, which was tragic of course. The other was put to sleep aged 14. I'm not sure precisely what was wrong with him (wasn't privy to the conversations with vet) but he had become very decrepit by that age.

We got them as a pair of farm kittens, complete moggies. I agree you do hear of moggies living much older than 14 quite commonly, but ours was very much an old man when his time came.

Male tortie! Probably the rarest cat we've seen on the Litter Tray

That's the one my vet recommended for Tobias's B12 deficiency. Open a capsule as above, one every other day is the recommended dose. Went from very low levels to near upper end of the recommended levels in a couple of months.

My Persian X lived to 18. My ragdoll is 10 I'm praying for many more years

My two cats lived to 22 and nearly 23. They were both moggies and the most loved girls - we miss them every day

He's an absolute sweetheart too.

Love him very much.

Male Siamese lived to be 22, male ragdoll to 18 and female Maine Coon to 21. Female raggie will be 14 next month.

Many years ago I took on a 19 year old cat and her 2 daughters aged 17 from an elderly lady who was going into a nursing home - they lived for another 41/2 years before all passing within 3 months of each other
More recently I lost Evie who was nearly 17, hoping Finlay has a few lives left in him despite numerous near misses - I’ve always found female cats live longer - the males seem to either be more reckless or suffer with renal/bladder issues

I'm guessing the outdoor cat life expectancy stats are brought down a lot by all the young cats who die in RTAs. Also, Ragdolls are prone to congenital heart issues - a friend lost hers at 2 from this.

Always had mogs that go outside.
First one was about 14 and died of kidney failure (difficult to be exact as he was a stray before he muscled his way in to our lives),
Second and third (siblings) got to 13 (sudden kidney failure) and 16.
Next three (siblings) died at 14 (kidney failure), 17 and 20. The 17 year old was the only cat I've ever had that died by himself rather than being pts. He'd gone out for a constitutional and didn't come home. We found him curled up as if asleep in a neighbour's garden.
Our current cats are two aged 14 and two aged 7. - hopefully plenty of life in them all yet.

I still tend to think that 13 or 14 is a good age for a cat and anything beyond this is a bonus. For some pedigrees it's clearly a bit less.

Did you own Flossie? Oldest cat in the world in 2022.
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/11/worlds-oldest-cat-confirmed-at-almost-27-years-old-726391

We had a pair who were littermates, they died in 2023, they were 18 years old.

My childhood cat lived to be 22 years old.

Our current cats are 9, 5, 1, and 16 weeks.

I am nervous now. I have 2 British Shorthairs who are now 6.
I will be sad if they only live till they are 11 (first study) or 9.6 on the second one!

We have 2 bengals they are 19