Do you know how many years your cat will live?

Cats are often referred to as “nine lives”. But now owners will be able to calculate exactly how much longer their pets will live.


For the first time, researchers have produced life tables that can predict the remaining life expectancy of different breeds in domestic cats.

A team from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in the UK, together with researchers from National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan, analyzed records of 7,396 cats that died in the UK between January 2019 and March 2021.


The results were then broken down by breed and sex and presented in life tables. The analysis revealed that the overall average life expectancy of domestic cats in the UK from birth was 11.7 years.

The researchers also found that female cats are expected to live 1.33 years longer than males.

Burmese and Burmese breeds had the longest life expectancy at 14.4 years, followed by mixed breeds at 11.9 years and Siamese at 11.7 years. Sphinx cats, meanwhile, had the shortest life expectancy at just 6.8 years.


Factors such as being purebred, overweight or too thin were also linked to shorter life expectancy.

The team said this information on remaining life expectancy could be used for cats of all ages in care and could help prospective owners and cat rehoming centers, for example, to predict how much longer a cat can live.

They also said their findings were a “big step forward” in how it could help owners of domestic cats and veterinarians when making decisions about treatment.


“The development of life tables of the domestic cat population in the UK represents an important milestone in understanding the life of cats,” said Dr. Kendy Teng, lead author of the study.

“By knowing the life expectancy of their cats, we are not only raising awareness, but also helping owners make the necessary decisions for their cats.”

“These new life tables finally allow owners to predict their cat's future life expectancy based on new scientific methods.”