Longest-living cat breeds revealed by life expectancy research

The longest-lived breeds of cats, together with Birmans and Burmese, dwell greater than twice so long as the shortest-lived breed, in line with a research of hundreds of pet cats within the UK.

“In terms of life expectancy, there has been very little research done on cats,” says Dan O’Neill on the Royal Veterinary Faculty within the UK. “They’re kind of invisible to science, especially compared to dogs.”

To be taught extra about cat longevity, O’Neill and his colleagues analysed knowledge on 7936 cats that died between 2019 and 2021, taken from vets within the UK.

General, cats had a life expectancy of simply over 11.7 years. Feminine cats outlived their male counterparts, with an anticipated lifespan of 12.5 years in contrast with 11.2 years.

Crossbred cats tended to dwell longer than purebreds, with the 2 teams having anticipated lifespans of 11.9 and 10.4 years respectively.

Twelve breeds, together with crossbreeds, had 15 or extra deaths within the knowledge – sufficient to estimate their life expectancy. Topping the longevity checklist are Birman and Burmese cats, each with life expectations of 14.4 years. On the backside are Bengal cats and sphynxes, with life expectations of 8.5 and 6.7 years respectively.

In contrast to with canines, how lengthy cats dwell doesn’t seem to correlate with traits reminiscent of physique dimension.

“Cats are boring – the variance between cats is usually just the length or colour of their hair,” says O’Neill. “We’re not talking like in dogs, where some breeds have twisted spines or no muzzles.”

The group additionally created what are referred to as life tables, which predict the typical remaining lifespan of cats at totally different ages and can be utilized to assist cat homeowners determine the right way to deal with their sick pets.

“If your cat is 11 or 12 years old and is only expected to live another year, then it’s probably not worth doing surgery, for example,” says O’Neill.