
Birman cats are among the many most long-lived
Nils Jacobi / Alamy Inventory Picture
The longest-lived breeds of cats, together with Birmans and Burmese, dwell greater than twice so long as the shortest-lived breed, in accordance with a examine of hundreds of pet cats within the UK.
“By way of life expectancy, there was little or no analysis finished on cats,” says Dan O’Neill on the Royal Veterinary Faculty within the UK. “They’re sort of invisible to science, particularly in comparison with canine.”
To be taught extra about cat longevity, O’Neill and his colleagues analysed information 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 information – sufficient to estimate their life expectancy. Topping the longevity listing 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.
Unlike with dogs, how lengthy cats dwell doesn’t seem to correlate with traits reminiscent of physique dimension.
“Cats are boring – the variance between cats is normally simply the size or color of their hair,” says O’Neill. “We’re not speaking like in canine, the place some breeds have twisted spines or no muzzles.”
The workforce additionally created what are often called life tables, which predict the common remaining lifespan of cats at completely different ages and can be utilized to assist cat homeowners resolve how you can deal with their sick pets.
“In case your cat is 11 or 12 years outdated and is just anticipated to dwell one other 12 months, then it’s in all probability not value doing surgical procedure, for instance,” says O’Neill.
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