this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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15 years is not the maximum time a cat can remain alive and suple. On average they can live up to 17 years and some live to their 20s.
"Average" is a really hard statistic considering entirely different living conditions across the world. Factor in street cats & baby deaths and the average is probably closer to 4 years.
This was for house cats.
But cats have 9 lives
In German speaking countries cats only have 7 lives :(
I stand corrected
I didn’t mean to correct you, just wanted to add this random thing I thought of reading your comment lol
No worries, i actually always forget this fact
I don't wanna
Cats often live for 20 years.
There is literally a Wikipedia page dedicated to cats that have lived to be older than 25 years: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-living_cats
The fact that there is a Wikipedia page for this shows that it is noteworthy when it happens. Further, most people in this thread have probably already surpassed that milestone
I find that hard to believe too. I've never known anyone who's had a cat die younger than like 15, but I suppose it could be true
We've had 4 of 5 cats die before reaching 6. 😢
The brightest candles burn the fastest. I've had my share too, but they had good lives and made our lives better in that short time.
That sounds like a you problem, not a cat problem
Stop shooting them.
There are unfortunately some cat diseases and genetics where they don't make it that far. Feline leukemia and diabetes are two that I've seen end cat lives far too early, and when they go downhill it's both quick and tragic to see them change. A typical cat who is cared for will definitely make it past 15.
I might be biased, but my very first (and only) kitty that I got at eight weeks old is still alive. She turns 17 in July. She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism a year ago. A couple weeks ago she was diagnosed with small cell lymphoma (cancer) in her intestines.
Money is probably the determining factor for life expectancy because figuring out she had cancer in her intestines set me back $3000. 😅 Now that she's on medication though, she is as lively as ever and is gaining a bunch of weight back which is fantastic 😊
That's a good bias to have. Situations are always different, and not only the cost or ability to catch things in time, but also the consideration of the quality of life if treatment is pursued. We had a dog and later a cat that both got diagnosed with kidney disease of some sort, both were very sudden and terrible to see an active pet turn lethargic and waste away in days or weeks. We could have thrown money at it and bought some time, but they would have been miserable with the needed operations and regular dialysis to keep them alive. The choice there was easy.
Glad to see you're on the other side of that with something controllable and a happy companion.