What is the life expectancy of an indoor cat compared to that of an outdoor cat?

Answer 1

It depends upon on the local environment.

In the UK 90% of cats are indoor/outdoor and they commonly live into their mid-teens and early twenties. However the UK is rabies free and cats have no natural predators.

If the local area has heavy traffic, rabies, dangerous wildlife etc., then yes, it's common sense that a cat will face many more dangers if it spends all of it's time outside.

I have always had my cats spayed/neutered, vaccinated and gave them regular access to medical care. They were allowed outside if they wanted to go, but they were always kept indoors over night. All of them died of age related health problems. The youngest was 12 and the oldest was 19.

Spaying and neutering is the main factor in increasing lifespan for all cats, whether they live indoors or outdoors.

You know the funny thing is, cats have no understanding of future time and have no concept of life span. What matters to them is the here and now. They would rather have quality of life over quantity.

Answer 2

My cats are outdoors.... no need to hiss Indoor cat people....

and one is 17, one is 16 and the other one just turned 10 (all neutered and spayed). So all the BS about outdoor cats living 3-5 years...How can you possibly say that people?
Yeah I know my cats run the risk of being dead tomorrow, but they are happy, healthy and have a full life.
But I agree indoor cats probably live 20 years, but so could my kitties.

So no real age limit to give you for outdoor cats.
but they can live up to 20 years as the indoor ones if they don't get into trouble.

Answer 3

A cat can live up to 20 years.

You know I know so many outdoor cats who were 20... the oldest was 22! and i know others who died too soon.

Of course, an indoors cat lives a less risky life (less disease, no fights with other animals, no risk of being hit by a car, killed by horrible people, eat poisonous stuff etc etc)

An outdoor cat has all those risks to cope with everyday. Now if an outdoor cat has all the vaccines and avoids all the things above, it can live for a long time, as I told you I know 4 outdoor cats who lived very very old (19-22 years old) and I know some outdoor cats who got hit by a car, one who got bit up by other cats and did not recover etc...

So there is no magic number for an outdoor cat.

Also if the cat is indoors, it needs proper exercise because obese cats don't live that long either so cat trees are great for cat exercise.

Now, I have two indoor cats because they can't defend themselves outside ( one is a ragdoll, and the other was an orphan kitten who does not know her boundaries, and is quite retarded)

I don't judge people who let their cat outdoors (like my parents) but I have personally chosen the safest way for my cats: indoors.

Answer 4

An indoor cat will usually live 2-3 times longer than an outdoor cat, but a lot depends on the area you live in (city vs country, predators, poisons, etc) and the genetics of the cat.
Also indoor cats generally get better vet care because problems are usually discovered quicker and therefore dealt with faster, where you may not notice your outdoor kitty isn't eating much/vomiting/having diarrhea etc. Outdoor cats are also at risk for disease (leukemia & FIV) spread by other cats, and while the vaccine for Feline Leukemia is effective, the FIV vaccine is not so cats can still become infected.
In my professional (and personal) opinion cats should only be allowed outdoors if confined to a cat-proof enclosure or on a leash/harness (supervised).
This website has a nice easy to build enclosure:
http://www.kittykouch.com/articles/catenclosure.html

Answer 5

A cat can live between 15 and 20 years.
An indoor has more chance to live that long than an outdoor cat has a more risky life.
But all the people who said 5 years or whatever are wrong.
As one person said it here there is no magic number of years for an outdoor cat. Some can live very long and some can end their life very abruptly... it's like people!!!!!!!!!
if you stay inside your house, you have less risk of an accident than if you go out and do things.
same thing with cats.
You can't give a number for an outdoor cat - it all depends.

you can say it's more risky, less safe with an outdoor cat, and with an indoor cat you have more chance to have your cat for many years, that's it.

Answer 6

Unless someone deliberately kills the cat, an outdoor kitty can look for about 10 good years. That is assuming no predators and poisons get to the kitty.

An indoor kitty can live up to about twice that long, barring illnesses.

Now, there is one cat I know who is an indoor-outdoor cat, and who has never been to the vet- and who is 16 years old. So sometimes The Rules don't apply as such. But it's not something to count on.

Answer 7

I believe the average age of a cat is 8 years, but that is a median age between inside cats and outside cats. Outside cats have a much shorter life span because they are subject to many dangers that inside cats don't face. So really, I think probably the outside cat average lifespan is probably only about 3-5 years, whereas inside cats can and do live well beyond 10-12 years.

Answer 8

Outside cats-2-3years, they get disease and killed by a car, there life span is cut door compared to an indoor cats. I will say there life span ranges from 15-years to 20 years that is if they are fed high quality food, no table scraps.

Answer 9

Same as others have said and asked in last two weeks.

Outdoor cats live MUCH shorter lives (LESS Than 5 YEARS), as they are exposed to more risk. Even if you live on a farm or a rural area than in suburbia, risks are similar... Indoor cats live longer ( UP TO TWO DECADES) and can handle change in surroundings easier. If you want to know why, try this website:

http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/indooroutdoor.htm

Answer 10

outside cat-maximum 2-3 years

inside cat-i had one cat live to 22yrs old