From a young age we are taught that Cats have seven lives, five more than Lázaro, and who are capable of overcoming falls from great heights, strong blows and even disappointments in love. The song already said “There was Mr. Don Gato, sitting on his roof“, marramiau, meow, meow…”.
Neither biology nor metaphysics have still been able to determine whether our feline companions really have seven life chances, but they have Giant steps in the understanding of cat physiology compared to a few decades ago.
The work of a group of British scientists
For Anglo-Saxons, cats, popularly, have nine and not seven lives, two more than the Spanish. Beliefs aside, recently the British newspaper “Daily Mail” published an article in which it announced an investigation into the longevity of these felines.
A group of scientists from Royal Veterinary College (Royal Veterinary College) of London, in collaboration with some researchers from the National Chung Hsing University of Taiwan have carried out a long study to determine the middle Ages that lives every race catgirl
The experts analyzed the record of 7,396 cats that died between January 2019 and March 2021 in the United Kingdom, and classified the data by age, race and sex. Thanks to a more in-depth study of the physical characteristics of each animal, it was possible to determine some of the variables that can be avoided to extend the life of these beloved pets.
Factors that shorten the life of cats: overweight, pure breed
The main author of the article on the analysis of cat life expectancy, Dr. Kendy Teng, assured the British newspaper that “the development of life tables for the cat population in the United Kingdom” constituted, in his own words, “an important milestone in understanding the life of cats”.
Although the difference between races may imply greater or less inevitable longevity, the truth is that this group of veterinarians managed to determine many other factors that influence the quality of life of cats, and that can be improved to give our pets a better stay in this world (a of seven, or nine, depending on what you want to believe).
sex It is one of the variables that most affects the life expectancy of cats, being that the females They survive, on average, 1.33 years longer than their male counterparts.
Likewise, the weight It plays a fundamental role in the life expectancy of a cat, as in that of any mammal. As he overweight like a thinness too pronounced can shorten the longevity of these pets, so it is recommended to keep them well fed and exercisedso that they maintain a healthy average weight.
How many years does a cat live? The average of each race
Although it cannot be overstated that this calculation is made on a not very large sample and only in the United Kingdom, this is the average age that each different breed of cat lives:
- Burmese: 14.4 years.
- Burmese: 14.4 years.
- Mestizo or Crossbreed: 11.9 years.
- Siamese: 11.7 years.
- Persian: 10.9 years.
- Ragdoll or “rag doll”: 10.3 years.
- Norwegian Forest: 10.0 years.
- Maine Coon: 9.7 years.
- Russian or Russian blue: 9.7 years.
- British: 9.6 years.
- Bengali: 8.5 years.
- Sphinx or Egyptian: 6.7 years.
Although this study does not call that, the “European common cat”the breed that occurs most in Spainhas an average life expectancy of approximately 15 yearsthanks to its developed immune system and its ability to adaptation to different environments.