Birman cats are among the many most long-lived
Nils Jacobi / Alamy Inventory Photograph
The longest-lived breeds of cats, together with Birmans and Burmese, reside greater than twice so long as the shortest-lived breed, in keeping with a research of 1000’s 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 study 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 reside 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 record 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.
Not like with canine, how lengthy cats reside doesn’t seem to correlate with traits resembling 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 crew additionally created what are often called life tables, which predict the typical remaining lifespan of cats at totally different ages and can be utilized to assist cat homeowners determine methods to deal with their ailing 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.
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