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

My Maine coon lived to 21, roamed outside and hunted.

I've had several cats over the years, all moggies.
One lived to be 19, one 18, one 16. The others were 9 - 12 years.

I have a pedigree ragdoll. She's 18.5 and still going! Before her, I had a moggy who only lived till 11.

It’s really good to see a vet’s views on this. There’s so many interesting and useful points here that I think it is worth quoting in full.

My moggy lived until he was just short of turning 18. I do miss him. He had to be put to sleep following a fall on Christmas Day 2017. I'll never forget that Christmas, but for the wrong reasons. He was a real character cat! He did regularly went outdoors for much of his life, though became a largely indoor cat as he aged.

Many years ago when I was a child my mother had a pedigree Siamese tomcat. Also a cat who liked to go outdoors. He lived until he was 17 too, when he had to be put to sleep due to advancing kidney disease. He had also become blind due to glaucoma in his last two or three years, but coped well with that.

Oh, and my 18 yr old ragdoll isn't on any medication and never has been. She once had a dental but other than that no vet treatment. I guess she's lucky! She's skinny and her coat is patchy but she eats and drinks well and seems to enjoy life.

My poor little moggie was PTS on Sunday .he was nearly 12 years old and an outdoor cat that never strayed very far .He was diagnosed with lung cancer beginning of December and was doing well until last week when he became increasingly breathless and stopped eating and drinking .His sister is still with us but we miss our boy so much .

@Needanadultgapyear this is really interesting, thank you for your post.

I'd been thinking about how much older cats on this thread are compared with my own experience from childhood cats, both my own and my friends. One of my cats died when he was 10 - this would have been in about 1999. At the time, it felt like he'd made it to a pretty decent age and while it was sad, everyone felt he was an old cat who'd lived a long life. Now it feels like dying at 10 would be quite young. We were really surprised at our other cat who lived on in good health till around 18, which at the time felt like an incredible age for a cat to reach.

In both cases, when those cats got a serious illness, there weren't any treatment options the vet could suggest. Veterinary medicine has changed so much over that time.

My cat is mostly an outdoor cat. She was a barn kitten and prefers being outside although comes in for a bit to warm up in the winter - her choice, she is welcome when she wants. She is currently 12yo and eats a mix of prey she catches and cat food. At the moment she looks very healthy given her age and hasn’t retired indoors yet!

We lost a few moggie cats young one to car at 18 months, one on the vets operating table aged 4 and one aged 7 with no cause found. One lived to 14 though and he ended up with cancer. We had two boys who had three Ragdoll grandparents and one Tonkinese grandparent. One died a month short of turning 14 and one at 16 both died of kidney failure. My parents ended up taking in my sisters moggie cat and she is 16 and still perfectly healthy and my two current moggie females are 7 so hopefully we have them for a long time yet. My in-laws cat is 3 and they “rescued” her from the next door neighbour as her 15 year old son has learning difficulties and he was shutting the cat in a room with no facilities leading to the obvious accidents and feeding her marmite. Meanwhile the baby (under 1 year old) was grabbing her but she by some miracle never scratched or bit to protect herself. Thankfully they took her with the neighbours knowledge before the cat was six months old and she was none the worse for her ordeal and is still going strong.

Our cat was 23 when she died. We have another who is nearly 17 and the youngest is 12

Our old cat was 17yo , she had high thyroid levels which the Vet said we "could treat" but it wouldn't be in her interest . This was in early 2005 IIRC.
She came from rescue having been surrendered at 2yo pregnant for the fourth time .
She was spayed so didn;t have this litter (she was so skinny I don;t know how she;s have coped . Bloody inconsiderate owners before she was fobbed off to rescue -they decided they didn;t want her as they had dogs now )

She was a moggy .
our our current pair both 7yo are moggies .

(I know that;s probably not the right phrase- should be "Domestic Short Hair " )

My DS's Bengal cat that spends most of his time indoors but can go out through the cat flap is over 9 years and still seems very healthy. He's still playful.

Just had to put our tabby to sleep, had so much bad luck, she was 14 and three months ago was attacked by a staff on our door step, she put up a good fight but the dog had left her with stomach hanging out and completely shattered sternum, had to have two surgeries, been through so much only to be dianosed with intestinal tumor, prednisolone was making her so sick and chose not to put her through chemo. She was my baby and I am heartbroken beyond words. I hope I made the right decision as the tumor was only small.

Oh my goodness , your poor girl

You made the right call , even without the post attack trauma , the ongoing treatment would've been a lot for her to go through . Such an savage ordeal for her , horrific and on her own doorstep which is her territory , safe haven .

You'll miss her but as they always say on LitterBox , you did it for her benefit .

She's out of pain and unfortunately you have to endure the cost of loving her .

to endure the cost of loving her
Emotional rather than financial.

Paul O'Grady used to say "It;s the price we pay for loving them " .

Our daft as a brush lovely outdoor Siamese lived to almost 20 but (similarly daft and loved) mog only made it to 10.

Currently got an inherited mog which despises us and the world around her yet is strong as an ox at 13, never been ill, outside all the time etc. <side-eye>

My Bengal lady is not (quite) as feisty as she was and is getting doddery - but still going at 14.

I had a moggy that died at 22.

I think that statistics like these can only tell you so much. Certain breeds become popular so are subject to backyard breeding, which shortens the lifespan of the cats produced and will lower the average life span. I made really sure to find an ethical breeder for my Ragdoll, she was the only breeder I could find that did all the genetic tests as well as a heart scan. I have, however, met many people who have bought, or are tempted to buy, a 'Ragdoll' off of some person on the internet, just because they are a little cheaper - and often not that much cheaper TBH! It's madness as there are a couple of genetic defects that are found in Ragdolls - PKD and HCM.

I currently have a 14 year old BSH who is a little thinner but still going strong and getting a good quality of life but my two previous moggies both died at 14. I have to say I do feed much higher quality cat food to my current cats, though. I educated myself about what to buy and spend quite a lot more. I think I was shocked when both my moggies died at 14, I expected them to live longer as people are always telling you about cats that live into their late teens and twenties and mine were absolutely loved and well cared for.

Mine died at 13, heart failure

It’s interesting. My last cat was 13yo when she died of kidney issues, well I had her pts. Vet was pushing for expensive tests, etc which I didn’t think were in her best interests. Vet said 13yo “wasn’t that old for a cat”. Well it obviously is if the average age of death is 14yo.

My bengal Hector was an outdoor cat and lived to 15. My current 3 are all outdoor cats, 2 pedigree and a mog. I hope they all have long happy lives.

My moggie will be 19 next month. She was sunbathing yesterday 😻



Our Moggies have lived 21, 18, 7 and the sister of the one that died at 7 is now 14. Our 14 year old is starting to show her age and doesn't go out for very long now.unless we are in the garden with her).

The one that died at 7 had a cancer. The others were old age things.