Dogs have already received scientific attention for their lifespans – but what about cats? In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have meow, ahem, now predicted the future life expectancy for your beloved feline friends.
Looking at breed and sex, the researchers confirmed that female cats live longer than male cats, and discovered that Birman and Burmese cats live the longest (spoiler: it has nothing to do with how similar their names are). Overall, they found that UK cats generally live to 11.7 years old.
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The new research, from the Royal Veterinary College and the National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) in Taiwan, published ‘life tables’ for all of the cat species in the study. These estimate cats’ average remaining years of life at any age by excluding data from cats that died before reaching that age.
“The development of life tables for the UK companion cat population represents a significant milestone in understanding the life of cats,” said lead author Dr Kendy Teng.
But where does your cat fall on the scale? While Burmese and Birmans had a huge average lifespan of 14.4 years, Sphynx cats had the shortest at an average of 6.8 years – followed by Bengal cats at 8.5 years.
Crossbreeds had a higher life expectancy than purebreds, at 11.9 years compared to 10.4. Meanwhile, female cats tended to live for 1.3 years longer than male cats – and spayed and neutered cats lived 1.1 years longer than intact cats.
While cats’ lifespans don’t share the same trend as dogs – where body size correlates with longevity – the research found that body weight is a key factor for cats. Your cat’s life expectancy may be shortened if they have a ‘non-ideal body weight’. In other words, too light or too heavy.
Published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, the study analysed data from almost 8,000 pet cats in the UK that died between January 2019 and March 2021. This included 819 purebred cats, 6,998 crossbreds, and 119 cats with no breed information recorded.
The researchers say the findings could help cat owners and cat rehoming centres to predict how much longer a cat may live, which could help them make the best decisions about treatment options for better overall wellbeing
Teng said: “Knowing the expected lifespan of their cats, we're not just raising awareness, we're helping the owners to make 'pawsitive' decisions for their cats.”
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