How Long Do Cats Live – Handy Cat Age Chart

As cat-parent, we ask ourselves, how long will my kitty stay with me in this life? How old can cats get? What is the average cat’s life expectancy? 

When googling the question “how long do cats live”, you will not get a precise answer and are likely to get a range of somewhere between 8 and 20 years old.

This range seems plausible, but it would be good to have a more precise range to pinpoint the average life expectancy of your cat and what you can do to help your feline companion live as long as possible in good health.

So, I went to work and gathered everything I could find, scattered all over the internet, speaking with others and some expert advice (a couple of vets that help me care for my cat, Max).

How Long Do Cats Live? – Average Life Expectancy

The average life expectancy for cats is roughly between 8 and 20 years. However, this depends on several factors like their environment, gender, whether they’re a purebred or a mixed breed, spayed or neutered, nutrition, and overall physical and mental health. 

So basically, when talking about a cat’s life expectancy, there are several factors to consider. All of these can contribute to their maximum age positively or negatively.

Examplese of these factors are:

• Breed, purebred or mixed breed?
• Diet
• Health
• Care
• Indoor versus outdoor

Suggested reading: 10 Ways To Make Your Cat Live Longer.

Cat Age Chart

We’ll dive into some of these factors a bit more in this article but without further ado, here is the cat age chart, showing the average life expectancy by breed.

Keep in mind that these are still averages and there will be outliers in each direction.

The below table shows the average range of minimum and maximum ages for popular breeds.

Breed	Average age range
American Bobtail	13 -15
American Curl	12-16
American Shorthair	15-20
American Wirehair	10-16
Balinese	8-13
Bengal	9-15
Birman	13-15
Bombay	12-16
British Shorthair	15-20
Burmese	16-18
Chartreux	11-15
Cornish Rex	11-14
Devon Rex	9-15
Egyptian Mau	9-15
European Burmese	15-18
Exotic Shorthair	8-15
Havana Brown	15-20
Himalayan	9-15
Japanese Bobtail	9-16
Javanese	10-15
Korat	10-15
LaPerm	10-15
Maine Coon	9-15
Manx	14-16
Norwegian Forest Cat	14-16
Ocicat	15-18
Oriental	8-12
Oriental Shorthair	12-15
Persian	10-18
Peterbald	10-13
Pixie-bob	12-16
Ragamuffin	15-18
Ragdoll	12-15
Russian Blue	15-20
Savannah	12-20
Scottish Fold	11-14
Selkirk Rex	12-15
Siamese	11-15
Siberian or Siberian Forest Cat	10-18
Singapura	11-15
Somali	12-15
Sphynx	10-15
Tonkinese	12-16
Toyger	10-15
Turkish Angora	12-18
Turkish Van	12-18

https://youtu.be/FH3NRh05F5Q

Do mixed cat breeds live longer?

Generally, mixed-breed cats live longer than purebreds because mixed breeds are bred from a more diverse gene pool. This makes mixed breeds less susceptible to inherited health issues and reduces the risk of inbreeding.

How does this work?

To keep the breed pure, pedigree breed cats are often ‘inbred’. Due to the smaller gene pool, problems such as inherited diseases or other genetic abnormalities are more prevalent in purebred cats.

With mixed breeds, mother nature has much more opportunity to let natural selection run its course and (over time) build stronger bloodlines with the weaker genes filtered out due to evolution.

Indoor versus outdoor cats

Whether your cat is an indoor or an outdoor cat can impact their average life expectancy.

As a general rule, indoor cats have a better chance of reaching old age than outdoor cats. This is because outdoor cats are exposed to more dangers such as getting into fights with other cats, being hit by traffic, or picking up diseases or infections.

To determine the risk for your cat, it’s best to look at your living environment.

For example, living in a quiet neighborhood, away from heavy traffic, or when your cat usually stays in the garden, the risks are considerably less. 

On the other hand, the risks would be higher for city cats or those who like to keep a large territory.

Another thing to consider is that females usually stay closer to home than males.

Also, if you prefer to keep your cat indoors, make sure it does get enough opportunity to exercise because a low level of activity can cause obesity and even depression in cats. This is another risk to their health and thus their lifespan.

The right nutrition to keep healthy

Just like eating healthy keeps us humans in good condition for longer, the same applies to your furry friend.

Ensuring your cat gets the proper nutrition, a varied menu and the right quantities almost ensures a long, happy, and carefree life.

Nutrition for cats can be a study in itself and it’s definitely more complex than I can cover in this article.

I’ll cover the most important recommendations below however if you’re interested in getting more information on cat nutrition, have a look here, here, or here. 

So, without getting into the weeds on this topic, there are just three main things to keep in mind when feeding your cat a healthy diet:

1. A varied menu
2. High-quality food
3. The right quantity at the right time

A varied menu

No one likes to eat the same food every day. The same applies to your cat. However, apart from boring your cat with the same menu every day, it’s also not very healthy.

Different menus contain different nutrients, all of which your cat needs to stay healthy. So, regularly switch your feline’s menu. It will make your furball look forward to feeding time more but it also improves their health.

By variance, I don’t just mean trying a different taste of the same generic canned food brand. Although that’s a nice start, try to experiment a bit with different foods and see what your cat likes. 

Some choices will be more successful than others and all cats have different preferences.

Switch up your cat’s diet and try the following

• Different ‘tastes’, different brands
• Alternate canned food with fresh meat or fresh fish (check here for how to do this)
• Both wet and dry food benefit a cat’s health so feed both (explained in our article right here)
• Some cats like fruit and vegetables. You can experiment with this but the main diet should consist of meat. (see what vegetables cats can eat and which ones to avoid, here)

High-quality food is best for your cat

Just like us, cats can eat “junk food” every once in a while, as long as their main diet consists of (relatively) high-quality ingredients.

That generic brand in your local supermarket might be cheap and your cat will eat it but it will not be beneficial to its health.

More high-quality brands such as Hills, Royal Canin, or Orijen will use better, fresher ingredients with balanced nutritional content and less or no potentially harmful additives. 

Even if you decide not to go for an A-brand, please stay away from the cheapest brands a go for a mid-range brand such as Friskies, Whiskas, or Purina.

Yes, better quality cat food will be more expensive but your cat will love you for it and it will save you veterinary costs in the long run when your cat stays healthy for longer.

The right quantity at the right time

It’s very easy for cats to over-eat and because of this, cat obesity is a huge problem.

In the wild, especially when looking at big cats, felines depend on the hunt and can easily go days between meals. Because of this, some cats will still instinctively eat as much as they can in a single sitting, even when fed regularly.

The ideal feeding schedule for cats is to eat relatively small amounts of food throughout the day.

This would also mimic their hunting behavior where they might eat a few smaller prey during the day.

Cats who are obese can develop a range of health issues like problems with their joints or diseases like diabetes which is nowadays very common in cats, difficult to treat, and will surely lead to a quick and painful death.

Even without those issues, obese cats are often less active as well which, in turn, can cause mental health issues.

Don’t overfeed your cat and spread out their meals across the day as much as possible. This can be done with things like puzzle feeders or timer feeders (sponsored links to Amazon).

In general, try to stick to the below reference for your cat’s calorie intake. Not sure what’s best for your cat? Consult your vet and get advice for your cat’s specific situation.

Daily recommended calorie intake for cats	5 lbs	10 lbs	15 lbs	20 lbs
Kitten	200 kcal	400 kcal	600 kcal	800 kcal
Lean Cat	170 kcal	280 kcal	360 kcal	440 kcal
Overweight Cat	180 kcal	240 kcal	280 kcal	310 kcal
Pregnant Cat	336 kcal	603 kcal	850 kcal	1090 kcal

Have a challenge getting your cat to eat enough? See our article here to find out why your cat might not finish its bowl.

Exercise and playtime!

Knowing how lazy our cats can be sometimes it is hard to imagine that they actually enjoy being active as well. I’d even say it is essential for their health.

In the wild, cats are very active as they need to hunt for their food on a daily basis and usually eat a few smaller prey per day. As a result, cats evolved for this. They are lean, fast, and strong.

As our pets, cats have become a bit spoiled and are not as active as they should be which sometimes has a detrimental effect on their health.

To keep your cat in physical top condition, she should get some exercise every day. Outdoor cats get this automatically but for indoor cats, a bit of persuasion is sometimes needed.

One of a cat’s favorite things to do is to spend time playing with you. Playing with your cat for about an hour each day does wonders for its health, both physically and mentally.

Need some inspiration? Have a look at this overview at Amazon for some great ideas.

Final thoughts and tips

As loving cat parents, we want our cat-children to stay with us as long as possible. It goes without saying that we want them to spend their years in good health.

Keeping a cat healthy and ensuring a long and happy life is not rocket science. Generally, what is healthy for us, is healthy for our pets. Apart from a healthy diet, enough exercise, and basic safety, make sure to go for regular checkups at your vet.

For kittens, schedule a checkup every 6 months and for adults and seniors at least once a year or when needed. Most health issues can be treated successfully. Especially when found at an early stage, these treatments usually don’t break the bank. Also, make sure your cat receives all required vaccinations to avoid unnecessary costs and worries.

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