How long did your cat live?

Question

What I mean is, how old was he/she when he/she died? and what was the cause of death?

sorry, i don't mean to bring up sad stuff, but i have a very old cat and I'm always worried about when he will die. I heard most cats only lived to about 15. I just wanted to know how much time i had left with him. thank you.

Answer 1

My cat Cameo was euthanized two weeks ago because her kidneys could no longer support her life. She would have been 23 years old this spring. Many older cats die of kidney failure. I had an eleven year old cat die of mammary cancer. I have an eleven year old cat now who has bladder cancer.

It is the same as it is for people - genetic inheritance, environmental exposures, diet, lifestyle (the 22 yr old cat lived the first fifteen years of her life totally outdoors.) We do the best that we can for our cats and sometimes the cause of their death is not within our control.

Answer 2

I read somewhere that the oldest cat that ever lived died at 36, but the best I can find on the web at the moment is 34 (see link).

I still have my oldest cat. Her name is Katrina and she will be 20 in March. She is an indoor cat. She has had some teeth removed, and she had thyroid problems and underwent a medical procedure called 'radio cat' rather than taking thyroid pills the rest of her life. She's still fairly spry, though she doesn't jump as high as she used to. She's as affectionate as ever, and purrs like there is no tomorrow. She's accepted new cats easily, but maintains her 'queenly' status!

My vet tells me that indoor only cats live much longer than outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats.

She had a litter of kittens at age two, and I kept one of them, a boy. Her son, snuggles, died almost 2 years ago of jaw cancer. Fortunately, Katrina has been healthy!

Answer 3

I've had so many cats and couldn't possibly answer for all of my cats. I lost one cat at 9 years old by being hit by a car, lost another one a few years ago at the age of 3 to cancer. My aunt however lost her cat last year due to old age at a very ripe age of 18.

To add on, my aunt's cat was a mostly indoor cat but when she went outside it was only to the tree right out back and right back to the house. She was fed homemade meals from the day they got her, regular vet visits and medications. She was very loving right up the end. Didn't even show signs of wearing down until the last week. Hope this answers Peppa-Anne's questions... the "vetenarian" - spelling?

Answer 4

My cat is 11 and he's great. I knew a lady down the street her cat lived to be 22. My cat I had in high school, he got killed by a car so he only made it to 5.

Answer 5

I have one who is 21 and one who is 20 and they are both still healthy thank God. Over the years, I've had a couple of senior citizens die in their sleep. The vet guessed heart attacks at the ages...15 and 18. The grandkids left one out and it got hit by a car when it was 4. I don't know why you wanted to know, but remembering is starting to hurt too much, so I think I'll stop now. They are full fledged family members to us and it hurts a lot to lose them.

Answer 6

Dear Lesley***

I am shocked at most peoples cats living soooooooooooo long!! The most South African cats live for is around 13years. In our terms 91years old. Your cats are living for 161 years!!!!!!!??????

Maybe our cat food is wrong, or it could be genetic properties inherited from inter-breeding?????

My cats ranged from 9 years old - 11 years old when they died.

It would be interesting to know what the cats from 20 years old were fed and medications given, vitamen tablets, did they visit the vet yearly and so on. Hopefully they can add on yo what they said to you.

You are so lucky to have your babys for so long!!

Luv peppa-anne
Univ.Lecturer*Vetenarian

Answer 7

I have read indoor cats can live up to 30 years in some cases.
Outdoor cats are exposed to "outside" diseases and have a shorter life expectancy.

I had a cat (indoor) that lived to 17, but had to put him to sleep due to kidney disease & alzheimer's.

Answer 8

My cat was 3 years old, and he died of a immune defiency, much like aids for a human. And no im not making it up, when i tell people my cat died of aids, they think its funny, but ask your vet, there is a cat immune defiency like aids, if you have cats outside, they can catch it from other cats by fighting.

Answer 9

My mums cat died a month ago, it lived for 22 years!!!!! it ended up dying from old age, and cancer. It lived for so long because we used magnetic therapie on it :D

Answer 10

My husband's female cat died at 17 of kidney failure. His male cat died at 15 of liver cancer.