The life expectancy of a cat is subject to the care we provide, as well as proper nutrition, a healthy lifestyle and regular visits to the vet. The time a cat lives will depend on all this as well as what its breed predisposes. Addressing all these aspects will result in our feline pet accompanying us for many more years.
How long does a cat live?
The years that our pet can live will depend on the care provided to it throughout its existence. A cat that lives in a home can have a life expectancy that exceeds 12 years. With some supervision and control we can ensure that our animal manages to live as long as possible. Cats, like most domestic animals, age faster than humans.
In fact, a very common mistake is to consider that each human year is equal to seven years of a cat. Most of the experts agree that cat aging is much more accelerated in its first two years of existence.
It can be seen in an equivalence table that indicates that when a cat celebrates a new anniversary, it is really as if it turned 15. With just two years of age, that same cat would become a young man of 24. From that age, For every year that passes, it ages almost four years. Usually the life of cats is longer than that of dogs. While a stray cat has a life expectancy of 3 to 6 years, a domestic cat has a life expectancy that exceeds 12 years. Even a well cared for cat can exceed 20 years of existence.
It could be pointed out that the longevity of a cat will essentially depend on the care it receives. Felines are basically characterized by being very curious and autonomous creatures. These aspects of their personality are what cause them to be constantly exposed to risks. But simply with some supervision and control, our pet can safely overcome one or another mishap and live as many years as possible. Let's know the most frequent dangers to which our pet is exposed.
Dangers of the Cat when leaving the house
As noted, cats are highly autonomous and curious. In addition to this, as our pet grows, its desire to go outside increases. Ideally, our cat would not leave the house and if it did, it would be under our surveillance. The most common risks that our pet faces when he leaves the house are the following.
Accident Insurance
A domestic cat, in its initial forays, has few survival skills, and the chances of having a mishap are very high. The probability is high that in his initial outings he will find some road to cross on which he can be run over. It can also be achieved with a trap or it can be attacked by a dog. Other incidents can occur when jumping from one roof to another, or climbing a fence. They can also feed on poisoned food or get locked up somewhere.
Disease spread
The probability of acquiring infectious diseases is very common in a cat that spends time on the street. Being a cat in heat, the fights that confront the felines to conquer the female are very common. The injuries produced by these fights can cause severe infections and the spread of diseases.
Chance of Having Unwanted Litters
When a cat is in heat, she will experience an urgent need to leave the house to mate with other cats. In fact, the chances of her returning pregnant to get out of the house are very high. Therefore, it is important to prevent our pet from going out when it is in this condition.
On the other hand, it must be kept in mind that kittens that have been born from an unwanted litter are very likely to live an unfortunate existence. Most of the experts recommend castration as the best consolation for our animal's escapades. The desire to leave the house is substantially reduced when our cat is neutered.
Dangers of the Cat at home
That a cat leads its existence inside the house does not assure us that its life will be prolonged. Indeed, when our pet lives with us at home, it has to face certain dangers. Let's analyze some of them:
Risk of Obesity
Obesity is very common in a house cat if some care is not taken. The cat that lives indoors hardly finds a reason to exercise. He usually spends much of the day dozing or lying down. Additionally, he does not need to fight for his food and his feeder is continuously available.
For a proper control of obesity in domestic cats, it is important to calculate the amount of food they eat daily. It is appropriate to give him low-calorie feed with a prudent level of fiber. It is also suggested to induce him to do exercises, with balls and toys that can be used by him.
Continuous Moult
A cat's shedding is governed by photoperiods. Cats that live on the street are exposed to changes in temperature and barely lose hair in certain seasonal periods. However, the domestic cat is subjected to more hours of natural and artificial light, with a temperature that relatively does not vary throughout the year. Therefore, in winter it is not affected by the cold due to heating and in summer it is not affected by heat due to air conditioning.
This causes that their changes do not take place in the natural lapses. As a result, the animal constantly sheds throughout the year. To benefit the health of the fur of house cats that are in continuous shedding, it is suggested to provide them with particular foods for the care of their hair and skin.
hair balls
Another frequent sign in domestic cats is hairballs. The balls may contain, in addition to hair, food offal, gastric excretions or plant material. A healthy cat brushes itself by licking. Its tongue is rough due to the presence of a variety of spicules or papillae that operate like a brush. With its lick, it picks up dead hair and ingests it.
Subsequently, this hair runs through the digestive tract and is regularly evacuated in the feces or vomited, producing a variety of irritating dry coughs in the cat. Sometimes, by eating too much hair, or if the digestive process is affected by some inconvenience, the hairballs are stored in the stomach or intestine. To prevent the formation of hairballs, it is advisable to brush our cat frequently and supply suitable products for their elimination.
Domestic Accidents
Cats, in addition to being curious, are extremely playful and inside the home they are always looking for something to play with. Electrical wires coming from televisions, music equipment or lamps are of great interest to them and they will always want to chew on them. To prevent them from getting a shock, it is appropriate to hide them. In hardware stores there are some elements called cable-channel that could be very useful to us to cover the cables.
Threads, pins, medicines, a certain poisonous plant or bones from food waste, are also a danger to our cat, since if they are within its reach, it is practically certain that it will nibble on them. The kitchen is one of his favorite places, particularly if we are cooking. They will always approach the smell of a good preparation, so you have to be very careful that they are not going to burn with the stove or with the ceramic hob.
Likewise, we must be attentive when turning on the washing machine, since it would not be strange for our pet to be napping in the drum. It is also common to get them inside the cabinets or in a bag. They will always browse in the least habitable places in the house. We must try not to leave the windows open if we live on a raised floor, since there is also the possibility of them falling and although it is true that they can withstand falls from a great height, they can be wrong and an unfortunate fall can turn into something unfortunate.
If we want our cat to live as long as possible, we have to be responsible and watch what it eats. A person who eats junk food will not live as long as a person who eats a Mediterranean diet, right? Well, the same thing happens with cats. If we take it for granted that your diet is based on high-quality natural ingredients, your quality of life will undoubtedly be superior. Our cat will have a more vigorous health and will be more long-lived.
Lack of Veterinary Care
Many pet owners do not see the vet properly at least once a year. Under the pretext that “it looks healthy”, the cat is not the object of medical attention and this can undoubtedly reduce its quality of life. Certain diseases have no visible symptoms and when detected may be too late. Neglecting the visit to the health professional is a sign of the importance we give to our feline, and this omission will be reflected in the degree of well-being and longevity that our pet will experience.
Old Age in Cats
If our pet has lived in exceptional living conditions, the degenerative processes of age can be delayed. Older pets may suffer more or less health problems according to their nutrition and the care they have received throughout their lives. Usually, from the age of 10-12, felines become lazier and begin to sleep for much longer on their favorite cushion or corner.
Also at that age they begin to gradually gain weight if you are not careful. Therefore, taking care of your diet is of great importance as you age. Veterinarians suggest feeding multiple servings of food in modest doses to older cats. Dry foods are great for our pet's teething, as this kind of food removes dirt deposits on the teeth.
It is also essential that the water is always cold, since cats lose control of their body temperature and, not feeling that they require liquids, can end up dehydrated. If for the entire existence of the animal it is appropriate to always be aware of its health, when it reaches old age, we must further increase the control of its physical condition and visit the veterinarian more frequently.
At this stage of old age, our cat usually requires much more care and special consideration. Being an elderly cat requires a lot of love and pampering. In conclusion, if we manage to bear in mind all these points outlined in this article, and we take care of our feline responsibly, we will surely ensure that he is giving us his company for as many years as possible.
Feline Age Chart
Age Humans – Age Cats
1 year ———–> 15 years
2 years ———–> 24 years
4 years ———–> 32 years
6 years ———–> 40 years
8 years ———–> 48 years
10 years ———> 56 years
12 years ———> 64 years
14 years ———> 72 years
16 years ———> 80 years
18 years ———> 88 years
20 years ———> 96 years
21 years ———> 100 years
How long does a domestic cat live?
The comfort and security offered by a home are essential factors for long life. House cats live an average of 12 years and, if well cared for, can live up to 20 years or more. In fact, it is known of cats that reached even the third decade: Scooter in Texas, United States, perished at 30 years old, while the English Nutmeg died at 32.
But what do we mean by well cared for? That their vaccinations are up to date, they have a healthy and balanced diet and exercise appropriate to their age range. This also includes avoiding nocturnal wanderings, which can trigger fights over territory between male cats or the probability that they will become pregnant if they are female.
Diseases such as feline immunodeficiency or leukemia, which are spread through fluid exchange, are other dangers of associating with cats that are not properly immunized. Castration is a good alternative to discard his instinctive need for adventures. Added to this, and according to specialists, the eradication of the reproductive organs contributes to the prevention of infections and cysts in the ovaries if they are cats and eliminates the danger of prostate or testicular cysts in males.
Finally, race also has an influence. There are some that are longer-lived, such as the European cat or the American Shorthair, and others with a lower life expectancy, such as the Bengali or the Ukrainian. The reason is that some species have a genetic predisposition to develop diseases that shorten their expectations.
Diabetes, for example, is more present in Burmese, Siamese, Russian Blue and Abyssinian specimens; Persian and Himalayan cats show a high incidence of polycystic kidney disease, while Maine Collins and Ragdoll cats usually suffer from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Life Expectancy of a Cat Living on the Street
Unfortunately, stray cats have a life expectancy that is not even half that of home cats. 50% perish before reaching their second year and, at most, they live to be six or seven. It is rational, if one takes into account that they are subjected to extreme weather conditions, to a constant danger of falling or being run over, and to the fight for survival with other specimens.
Few know that kittens left to abandon quickly forget their status as landlords. The initial generation of felines that is born outside the home environment exhibits all the traits of the wild cats from which they originate. Obviously, they also do not have a healthy diet.
Stray cats subsist on what they hunt and, if there are no rats, mice or birds around, what they can get from the garbage. Inappropriate nutrition, diseases from eating things in poor condition and also poisoning are among the most important causes of death in this group.
It is not strange to find these felines, also known as feral cats, in all the cities of Spain. The number of stray kittens in this nation increases every year and feline colonies already operate in numerous localities, managed by neighbors and volunteers from animal protection societies. However, the essential thing is to make people aware so that, for no reason, they abandon a cat or its young.
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