There is a fairly widespread belief that the smaller the animal, the shorter it lives. In this context, cats should be considered long-lived creatures. How long do cats live?
Roof vs domestic: how long do cats live
The average life expectancy of a cat is from 12 to 16 years. Although there are cases of exceptional longevity in these quadrupeds.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that roof cats, also known as the European breed, live longer and are healthier than their titled, breed cousins. This is due to a healthier mix of genes and the avoidance of inbreeding, i.e. too close affinity with cats.
Domestic non-breed cats live on average over a dozen years.
Purebred cats surrounded by veterinary care live from nine to eighteen years.
Cat breeds and their average age
- Abyssinian cat – a descendant of the Egyptian ancestors lives from 9 to 15 years
- Bengal cat – the unusual cross between an Asian leopard and a domestic cat lives short because the average age is less than eight years
- British Shorthair – a representative of a very popular breed in our country is long-lived and well-treated, will survive up to twenty years
- Maine coon – a beautiful cat giant with long fur lives up to 15 years
- Persian cat – difficult to comb, but with a charming character also reaches the age of fifteen years
- Sphynx cat – this unusual cat lives on average 13 – 15 years.
How do you count the years of a cat’s life?
When do cats grow up? For most pets, the first year of life is the time of the most intense changes. Young cats grow and change practically from day to day. Females reach sexual maturity already around 5-6 months of age, males – between 7 and 8 months. A one-year-old cat is usually a mature cat.
Cats grow physically up to the age of two. The first two years of their lives can be converted to about 25 human years. Then we can count 4 times each year of a cat’s life, which will give roughly a picture at what age our pupil is human.
Purebred, big cats, e.g. maine coons, usually mature slightly more slowly. These large domestic cats achieve sexual and psychological maturity only at the age of 3-5 years, therefore the standard converter does not work in this case.
Do domestic cats live longer and healthier?
A cat that spends its entire life moving from one nap on the sofa to another, to a blanket on a warm radiator, having clean sand in the litter box, loving and caring people for it is free of stress, anxiety and … getting fat.
Unfortunately, the biggest threat to our domestic cats is civilization disease, or obesity. Excessive food, castration, lack of movement and stress cause overweight and related diseases.
A cat running around the garden, hunting and escaping from danger is rarely obese. Unfortunately, although in good shape, the average free living cat is only a few years old.
However, we must answer for ourselves whether we will let the cat out. Do we want to expose our mentee to danger and a violent death or provide him with a boring but safe life?
