As the years go by, your furry gets older. You know that death is part of life, but still you wish that moment does not come, or that it is at least delayed ... a long time. We all know it: human beings have a longer life expectancy than cats, but it is very hard to be separated from a partner with whom you have shared 15, 18, or 23 years of your existence.
By far, this is the question we ask the most when living with a feline. And we often look for an answer that makes us feel good, that confirms that we can still enjoy our friend a lot. How long does a cat live. A difficult question that we will answer in this special article.
I have read on many occasions that cats that remain indoors, without access to the outside, can live for twenty years, while those that do have permission to go out for a walk do not exceed 3-5 years. As in everything, it depends. There are many factors that will determine how long a cat lives. Thinking only about the dangers that may be encountered throughout his life will prevent us from knowing how long we can have him by our side, since while it is true that a cat in the city has a high chance of being run over or poisoned, a cat that lives in a rural environment and has a house where it is cared for can have a long hope.
So what factors influence it? How can I know how many years my cat will live?
Genetics
Having a healthy immune system will allow you to overcome the diseases that you may suffer without too much trouble. However, there are some that are hereditary and that can cause you some discomfort. They are as follows:
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: This is a disease that affects the walls of the heart's ventricles, causing them to thicken and make it difficult to pump blood.
- Progressive retinal atrophy: it is a degenerative disease that leads to incurable blindness.
- Primary seborrhea: It is not serious, but it will force us to bathe him often. If you see that your skin is flaking and that it also secretes a lot of fat, then you will be facing a case of seborrhea.
- Polycystic kidney disease: They are cysts that appear at an early age in the renal cortex, but over time they fill with urine. They are often the cause of kidney failure, and in this case there is no cure.
Any cat of any breed -including mongrels- can be victims of these diseases, but it is true that the less genetic variety there is, they will be more likely to suffer them.
Veterinary care
When we finally bring a new animal into our life, we will have to take him to the vet from time to time to make sure that his health is good. Even if you are never going to leave the house, it is highly advisable (in fact, it is mandatory) to give you some vaccinations, which are those of the feline leukemia, panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis y calicivirosis. These diseases can be deadly, so it is essential to vaccinate, at least, against them.
Another topic that we cannot stop talking about is that of sterilize the animal. Especially if you are going to have access to the outside, it must be taken into account that the territory of 'whole' cats is much greater than that of those that have undergone surgery. In addition, to prevent unwanted pregnancies and prevent our friend from being involved in a heat fight, we must take him to the vet for surgery.
Food
Food is essential to be able to live. Cats, originally, ate those animals they hunted: rodents, birds, some insects ... Today, anyone who wants to live with one of these furry animals faces the following dilemma: Do I give him feed or raw food?
Dog Food
Since the end of the last century, feed began to be commercialized, which can be dry or wet. Cats have had to get used to eating this type of food, since it is very comfortable and practical for us, because we simply have to open the bag and serve. But ... is it natural for him? Well, natural, natural ... it is not, since there is no one who is going to feed them, for example, the big cats of Africa 🙂, but yes we will find brands of feed that are really nutritious and easy to digest for their stomachs.
To do this, we have to know that they are strict carnivores, which means that they only eat meat. They cannot digest cereals, and they only chew grass in order to expel something that has made them bad. Starting from this, we can make sure that our friend is eating a good feed if it has a high percentage of meat, not less than 70%. The rest has to be greens and vegetables, but not corn or wheat.
If we can't afford it, one option is give them one that has a small percentage of rice which is, so to speak, the least bad cereal of all. These feeds are a little cheaper (they can be around 35-40 euros for a 10kg bag), and they are an excellent alternative when we cannot afford to spend more money on their food.
Raw food
Another option, much more recommended, is to give him raw food. This type of diet is known as BARF, which is the acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food and, while it is the most expensive, it is the one that has the most benefits, among them:
- Shiny hair
- Clean and strong teeth
- A healthier immune system
- Better mood
Cats can eat all kinds of meat, being more advisable to give them chicken wings and organ meats. You can also give him bones, but it is very important that they are raw and that they are of a size that cannot be swallowed.
And at home?
The environment in which an animal lives can significantly influence its health. If stressed, abused, or ignored, that cat may lose the will to live. On the contrary, if you take care of it as it deserves, giving it lots of love and peace, dedicating time to it, every morning you will wake up wanting to know what adventure awaits you today.
So, taking into account everything we have talked about, and based on my experience taking care of cats, I can say that they are animals that will live as long as they have to live. I explain: genetics, the type of diet that he is given, but above all, the type of life he leads, will ultimately decide when the time has come to say goodbye to him.
There are cats that go outside and live more than 10 years, and there are others that, on the contrary, are at home and due to health problems, they die after 2 years. Now, if you want to know how long a cat lives, I will tell you that as long as it is healthy and takes good care of itself, can exceed 20 years. Sure 🙂.
Enjoy his company as long as he is with you. Give him a lot of love and you will see how he will live many years.
Like people, the key to living longer is in your genetics, diet, activity, and emotional state.
You can have good genetics, but a poor diet, little exercise and emotional problems, can change it and become cancer (which is a genetic modification of cells), in short if we accumulate toxins for various reasons and if we do not eliminate them from our body, they will end up causing us a disease.
People want to eat healthy, cats too. If we force them to eat what we put on them, we are going against the wise and natural instinct of the cat.
They hunt birds, pigeons, mice, etc. None of these animals have the large amount of "bad" fat that a chicken wing can have, raised in a cage without moving and on bad feed.
I have let my cats choose which food they like best, because they are the ones who understand and know what will suit them best.
It is my personal opinion, but I would not give the cat neither fat, nor bones.
Respecting 70% meat in your food, the rest can be vegetables and cereals. If important and expensive brands of feed do it, it is because it is correct.
The emotional state is very important. Cats are very sensitive. Any change affects them.
I commented that my cat had a problem in her mouth, she did not eat, salivated, stuck her tongue out… etc.
Well, I couldn't give him the antibiotic pill. I tried mixing it in different ways with different foods and when I smelled the medicine it would go backwards like, you eat this.
I wanted to give it to him with a syringe but I gave it to him only once, and my husband got a good scratch, the next one was; You don't take me anymore. She is a cat collected from the street, and very strong, I already said that she needed two doses of pain reliever to look at her mouth.
Well, I thought her teeth weren't there before I brought her home and nothing was wrong, what has changed? his situation in front of the "herd" that after all are his children.
Lately I have pampered her a lot more, I have fed her separately, the first, the best, I have not reprimanded her if she gave her children (without hurting them) if they bothered her, etc. I have let her believe that she was still the "queen" of the house.
And it is working. He does not drool, does not stick out his tongue, has returned to "speak" to me, and so on.
Incredible the change of your cat 🙂. They can go from being a true 'beast' to, at least accepting, the presence and care of a human. One of the cats in the colony that I am taking care of has undergone a similar 'transformation': when I saw her for the first time she was about 2 months old, and she was… tremendous. It would growl, snort, and even take a bite at you if you wanted to touch it. At lunchtime he became even wilder, to the point where he was angry with his own brothers.
As the days went by, and especially the months, he accepted my presence, since he related me to "the one who carries food." Little by little, she let me get closer and closer to her. And one day I decided that it was time to caress her, but as someone who does not want the thing. What was my surprise that he was not upset; so for the next few days I kept stroking her that way.
One day she was the one who came over, and rubbed against my leg. He had started a friendly relationship.
Cats are very intelligent, and if you love them ... their life expectancy will be long. Sure.
My cat has had to go through a lot, as I mentioned she has scars on her nose and lip. And then the molars, which I don't think fell off on their own.
It's very good, because when she's happy, she greets and “talks” a lot with guttural sounds, and she's also beautiful, a very exotic mix. Today he has already welcomed me and greeted me when I entered the house, he has improved a lot, and only with additional affection.
Cats are very sensitive, these kittens that at first showed us their teeth, were simply afraid, and it was a way of defending themselves, because surely they have found themselves in some threatening situation.
I have seen how they urged a dog to attack a kitten that they fed, I have learned that they killed a cat with her little ones with sticks, they poisoned my hen and broke her leg, possibly due to a kick ( I managed to cure her of both aggressions, which were at the same time, her stools were paint green and smelled of chemistry, the chicken had to be immobilized, and I fed her, cleaned her, like this 40 days, which takes a bone to heal ).
There are very bad people. Fortunately, there are also very good people who respect all living beings.
You are right. There are people who do not respect animals and who do with them what they want… Fortunately, things are changing, although more slowly than we would like.