What Is the Average Lifespan of a Domestic Cat?

You may have heard about the nine lives of cats, but do you know what is the average lifespan of a domestic cat ? The average lifespan of a cat depends on various factors, such as whether it is an indoor or an outdoor cat, its breed, nutrition, and health status, and whether it has been neutered or not.

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Do Indoor Cats Live Longer Than Outdoor Cats?

Indoor cats tend to live longer than outdoor cats due to the dangers of being outside that indoor cats are not susceptible to. These include road traffic accidents, fights with other animals, picking up diseases, and starvation.

An average indoor cat can live up to 12-14 years of age, while an outdoor cat would be expected to live up to 10-11 years.

How Can You Tell a Cat’s Age?

If your cat was rescued or adopted from a shelter, then it is likely that you don’t know its age, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to tell its age. A vet can examine the body of a cat thoroughly and determine its age. The following body parts can help determine a cat’s age:

Its Teeth

The younger the cat is, the easier it is to tell its age. All permanent teeth erupt inside a cat’s mouth at the age of 6 months. The first incisors erupt at two weeks, followed by canines at four weeks, premolars at six weeks, and by the time the kitten is eight weeks old, it has all its baby teeth in the mouth.

At about 4 months of age, a kitten begins to lose its teeth, and by the age of 6 months, it will have all permanent teeth in its mouth. Figuring out a kitten’s age after six months can be a little tricky.

Some estimates can be made by looking at the buildup of tartar in the cat’s teeth. If the tartar buildup is more in the back teeth, then the cat may be 1-2 years old. If it is generalized and there is some wear on the teeth, the cat is presumed to be 5-6 years old. Missing teeth can indicate that the cat is 10-15 years old.

Its Eyes

Kittens have smooth glassy eyes, but their eyes start becoming cloudy and may have frequent discharge as they age. Older cats develop cataracts in their eyes just as humans do. This usually happens beyond the age of 10 in a cat.

Its Weight

Until six months, healthy kittens gain a pound for every month that they age. Healthy kittens have tighter skin and good muscle tone, whereas older cats tend to become obese and have saggy skin.

Activity Levels

Older cats are less active and prefer lazing around and sleeping throughout most of the day, whereas younger cats and kittens are much more active and playful.

Sexual Maturity

Cats reach puberty between the ages of 5 and 7 months, and this will be made obvious to you by their constant moaning and being in heat.

Coat Development

Kittens have a shiny and soft coat of hair when they are young. As they age, the hair becomes coarse, thick, and starts to gray.

How to Extend a Cat’s Life?

Here are some ways that you can help your cat live longer:

Keep Your Cat Indoors

Cats who spend time outdoors are at risk of catching diseases and infections, getting into road traffic accidents, and don’t have access to clean water and food. Due to these reasons, they tend to get sick often and are at a greater risk of dying faster than cats that live indoors.

Get Your Cat Neutered

Neutered cats live longer as they don’t suffer from reproductive health issues. Neutered cats also don’t roam about the outdoors and risk themselves catching a disease or getting into accidents.

Make Sure Your Cat Is Having Enough Wet Food

Wet food contains a large amount of water content. Many cats suffer from dehydration as they age because they don’t consume enough water and eat cat food or kibble, which is dry. Eating canned or wet food is preferred over dry kibble as it provides hydration to the cat and prolongs the chances of kidney disease and arthritis caused by dehydration.

Ensure Regular Visits to the Vet

Since cats cannot communicate when something is bothering them, it might be difficult for their human owners to know when something is wrong. Scheduling regular appointments with the vet can help you maintain and check on the cat’s health and prevent anything serious from happening all of a sudden.

Don’t Ignore Dental Care

As cats age, more and more tartar builds up in their teeth. Failure to brush and remove the tartar can cause painful inflammation of the gums, called periodontitis in cats.

This can cause a severe infection in which the cat becomes extremely weak and finds it difficult to eat. The gums swell up and become painful, and it isn’t easy to chew. Cats lose their appetite and become lethargic. In some cases, it may cause cats to lose their teeth due to high mobility.

Watch Your Cat’s Weight

According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, almost 60 percent of cats in the United States are obese.

Obesity can cause a variety of medical conditions in cats, such as diabetes, organ damage, kidney disease, joint damage, and heart failure. It is important not to overfeed your cat and keep its weight at a healthy level and encourage physical activity in your cat.

Give It Some TLC

Neglecting your cat and not giving it attention is enough to make even the healthiest cats sick. Spend time with your cat every day and talk to it. Make sure to feed it on time, maintain its litter and keep it clean and provide clean and fresh water to your cat twice daily.

What Are the Causes of Death in a Stray Cat?

Stray cats or those living outdoors are at risk of dying sooner than indoor cats. Here are some causes of death in a stray cat:

Becoming road kill
Catching parasitic infections
Getting into fights with other cats and animals over scraps of food
Inaccessibility to clean drinking water
Inaccessibility to fresh and clean food
More prone to having reproductive health issues due to non-neutering
May get injured from cruel people throwing rocks at them
May ingest rat poison or antifreeze and die
May get picked up by animal control

Causes of Death in a Domestic Cat

Domestic cats live longer as they aren’t at risk of dying from being hit by vehicles, starvation, eating and drinking food with germs, or catching diseases from being outside. Domestic cats tend to die of natural causes as they age. Here is a list of the common causes of death in domestic cats:

Diabetes
Arthritis
Kidney disease
Cancer
Obesity
Organ failure
Heart failure

Signs That Your Cat Will Live a Long Life

We all want our cats to live a long time. While the average lifespan of domestic cats is 14 years, it is not unusual if a cat lives up to the age of 20, which is 100 years old in human years. If you want to predict whether your cat has a good chance of living a long life, here are some signs you can watch out for:

Changes in Appearance

The following changes can be observed in your cat as they age:

A thicker coat of hair or fur
Eyes appear jagged and cloudy
Teeth appear yellow as they are covered in tartar
Saggy skin and loss of muscle tone
Changes in weight

Changes in Behavior

Your cat starts becoming more vocal and noisy
It has disturbed sleep
It has reduced stress tolerance

Changes in Activity and Daily Routine

Decreased activity
Your cat prefers lazing and lying around often
Decreased sense of sight, smell, and hearing

A healthy aging cat is one that does not show any of the following signs from the DISHA pattern

Disorientation
Interaction changes
Sleep alteration
House soiling
Anxiety and activity changes

If a healthy cat is not showing any concerning changes in the above departments, then it means that they are aging in a normal and healthy manner.

Cat Breeds and Lifespan

While it is impossible to predict just how long a cat will live for, it has been observed that certain breeds of cats live longer than others. The Siamese and Manx breeds have the potential to surpass the average lifespan of other species and can live up to 25-30 years.

Cat Nutrition and Lifespan

Cats are primarily carnivores and need protein in their diet more than anything else to survive. There are certain essential amino acids, such as taurine and methionine, without which cats cannot survive. Cats obtain these from eating meat or their specific cat food.

Eating too many carbohydrates is unhealthy for cats and can even reduce the absorption of protein being digested in their body. Cats should receive a balanced diet of proteins, essential fats, and some carbohydrates.

They must be kept hydrated by providing plenty of clean and fresh water and food rich in water, such as canned, wet food.

Obesity and Lifespan in Cats

Overweight or chubby cats look super cute and cuddly but can have various health conditions that can reduce their life expectancy by a whopping 5 years. Obesity in cats is very common, and up to 60 percent of adult cats in America have been recorded to be obese.

Obese Cat Health Problems

Obesity in cats can cause the following health problems to occur:

Joint Problems

Too much weight can put a strain on the cats’ joints, causing them to become weak and develop arthritis. This is a very painful condition for cats and is one of the leading causes of death in cats.

Type 1 Diabetes

Obese cats are four times more likely to develop diabetes than skinny cats. While there is no cure for feline diabetes, early and adequate management at home can help manage it.

Routine insulin injections must be given, improvement in the cat’s diet and activity schedule, and an attempt to decrease the cat’s weight can go a long way in managing diabetes in cats.

Kidney Disease

Obese cats are prone to getting recurrent urinary tract infections and bladder stones. These can be very painful conditions for the cat and can lead up to kidney disease eventually.

Heart Disease

Cats have smaller lungs compared to other animals. When a cat becomes obese, it can restrict the space the lungs have, making breathing harder. This can cause heart attacks in cats.

Decreased Immunity

The stress of being overweight combined with excess hormones and other compounds weakens the immune system and doesn’t let the body effectively fight off infections.

Cancer

Obesity is a risk factor for many cancers in the body. This is mainly because fatty tissues release many inflammatory compounds in the body.

How Long Do Fat Cats Live?

In general, overweight cats die in their middle-age years, which is the age of 6-10 years. Obese cats require interventions from the vet, and owners should actively watch the cat’s diet and encourage physical activity in them if they want to extend their lifespan and improve their quality of life.

Wrapping It Up

All cat owners want their cats to live long and healthy lives. The only way to try and ensure the best possible life for your cute little feline friend is to look after some basic needs.

A healthy and well-balanced diet and regular grooming, visits to the vet and vaccinations are important. They must be neutered, and they must be given adequate time and attention. All animals require handling with patience, love, and care; otherwise, even the healthiest of cats can become sick.