How long do cats live?
So how long do cats live? Several large domestic cats have been
known to live for well over 30 years. Also some that are kept in zoo's
often live for much longer than their wild outside relatives. The following is from my
own experience with owning cats for over 30 years and "generally speaking". We had one
cat live to the ripe old age of 20.She holds the household record to this day.
Because most of our cats have not made it quite that long. So to answer your question, how long do cats live. This depends on several factors. I will take an average of all the indoor cats that we owned and did our very best to take care of. The average age of our personal cats lifespan has been about 17 years of happy and healthy living.
how long do cats live indoor vs outdoor
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It appears that a common belief between Experts is that if the cat remains to be an indoor cat, and never goes outside that their lifespan can triple over a cat that frequently goes outside.
In doing some research on cats that go outside I have found several authority, articles stating that the average lifespan of an outdoor cat would be about six years. The reasons for this shortened lifespan are obvious. Just a few would be automobile accidents, picking up parasites and diseases, being hunted by larger animals and territorial fights with other felines.
As far as increasing the lifespan of an indoor cat
there are several things you can do to not only increase how long cats
live but the quality of this together time. Of course number one on
this list would be regular visits to the veterinarian. Easier said then done with some pets. We have one cat that walks right into the pet transporter when we open the flap. The other one runs straight up the wall at first sight of it.
A good rule of thumb would be to visit your veterinarian about once a
year. In questioning my own personal vet, he stated that our indoor
cats would have lived longer if they had regular dental care.This has been proven in both feline and human study's about gum and teeth care related to long term health.
Gum and teeth health are very important to the cats lifespan and overall well being of your cat. My vet stated our last cat that died at age 17, passed away due to circulatory and heart problems that could be traced back to bacteria that had collected in the gum area.
My
vet recommended that all cats should have a teeth cleaning. Once a
year, along with a regular vet visit. The domesticated cat diet is not
very beneficial for teeth and gum cat health. We fell behind on dental care for our boy cat Thomas and he needed to have a few infected teeth pulled.
How long do cats live with proper dental care
My vet says the sky is the limit with proper feline dental hygiene. Here are a couple of tips on how I accomplish our regular dental exams. I take the index finger and thumb of one hand and placed it in the corners of the mouth, while the other hand gently draws the lower jaw down.
This will not be easy at first but your cat will learn not to mind and latter may appreciate the attention. What you're looking for is if there is any described sign of discoloration on the teeth or gum's. Also you can look for inflamed and redness of the gums and a for sure early warning sign is unusually overpowering bad breath.
If you should find this definitely seek a Vets advice. Our cat, Riley has become used to this dental exam to the point where she allows us to gently brush her teeth with her own toothbrush. We are still working on our second cat Thomas to comply with his dental exam.
He is gun shy because he had a few teeth pulled as I mentioned above. To sum up the question how long do cats live? The answer is directly related to the cat health care provided and if the cat goes outside.
It can also be effected by the health and strength of the gene pool. When the parents live long and prosper often the offspring will have a similar experience. Although getting genetic information can be difficult when adopting pets from shelters.
We have a page with more interesting facts about cats. This next link takes you from
how long do cats live to cat facts.
Learn more about us and this feline friendly website. This next link takes you to the homepage for cat health and
cat behavior.
Learn more about common cat illnesses and the prevention of these aliments on the page that answers
cat health questions.
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