Life Expectancy

Originally Posted by pearce1974

For those who've had pets 18plus years, were they on regular store bought meow mix or exclusive diet. Any UTI problems? I have never seen so many cases of poor health in this era, when in years past, cats lived so long...what gives?

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Kandie had CRF for 4 yrs ... dignoised sometime before her 15th bday ... her diet was fresh cooked meats from grandma and grocery wet and dry ... Uti s came in her 17th yr

Nikko died of CRF he ate table food and store bought cat food for all 19.5 yrs

Originally Posted by pearce1974

For those who've had pets 18plus years, were they on regular store bought meow mix or exclusive diet. Any UTI problems? I have never seen so many cases of poor health in this era, when in years past, cats lived so long...what gives?

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My 2 ate 9 Lives canned thier entire lives and were never sick and never taken to the vet until they developed age related diseases and no vaccinations except for the kitten series. This was years ago before I learned how to take care of cats properly although I'm still not a big fan of vaccinations for indoor cats.

They were also siamese which are known for robust health and to live 4-5 years longer on avgerage than other breeds.

My cat Samantha is 19 years old and she has been very healthy.
She has only needed to go to the vet for her spaying as a kitten and yearly check-ups and shots.
She has mostly eaten store brand foods like 9 lives and purina but has also been on diet food for weight control for a couple of years.

Apache we lost to cancer at... 12? 13?
Mayhem, born with aortic stenosis, died of heart failure at 7
Gizmo (outdoor feral) had to be put down at 4 because of an inoperable tumor that was crushing her brain and causing her a slow painful death (poor kid )

The rest are still with us...

Gemini is 15 - and still acts like a kitten!
Azrael is 8
Jack is 7
Johnny is approx 6 (stray, don't know for sure)
The first litter of ferals is 6
The second litter is 5
Tryon is 2.5
Weeble is 1
Sammy is 6 months

So the best I can do for you is 15... but we're all convinced Gemini is never going to die. She just has too much attitude to let death take her So she may be the next to make it to her 30s!

So far, none have died. But of the three in the family, the eldest is 7, tops.

I can only hope Zissou is with me until I'm 45.

Seb is the oldest cat I have had. He is going on 12 years old

Twiggy went to cancer in her 10th year.

Before that Tinkerbell, Tippytoe and Scooter were each about 16, 15 and 13 respectively when my parents put them down because the new dog didn't like them. They did it when I was away planting on the farm that spring. Each of them had some good years ahead of them and they got rid of the dog a couple of years later anyhow. That really made me mad.

X

Originally Posted by xman

Twiggy went to cancer in her 10th year.

Before that Tinkerbell, Tippytoe and Scooter were each about 16, 15 and 13 respectively when my parents put them down because the new dog didn't like them. They did it when I was away planting on the farm that spring. Each of them had some good years ahead of them and they got rid of the dog a couple of years later anyhow. That really made me mad.

X

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How heartbreaking! I am so sorry for your losses

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

How heartbreaking! I am so sorry for your losses

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Thanks. Tinker was pretty much 'my' cat too. She was an all black, part Siamese who was very affectionate and would curl up under the covers with me at night. She was also the scourge of the neighbourhood and could happily survive for many days on end out on her own hunting her large territory even though we always had food down for her. My brother says he saw her leap and catch a bird out of the air from a perch where she couldn't see it, only hear the flapping wings approach. What a great cat.

X

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

The cat I had when I was growing up, Bootsie, lived to be 22 1/2 years old, and died of old age.
My next cat, Spooky, lived to be nearly 17 years old, died of CRF.
My sister's cat, Billy, lived to be 18 years old, died of CRF.
My parent's cat, Samson, lived to be 19 1/2 years old, died of CRF.

The cats I have now are 7, 6 and 4 1/2 years old. I sincerely hope they live as long as the other cats in our family have lived! Maggie and Cleo both have CRF, so luck probably isn't on their side, but I will fight as hard as I can to give them a long life!

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forgive me for my innocence, what is CRF?

and wow, 22 1/2 years old, wish every cat would live as long...

Originally Posted by xman

Twiggy went to cancer in her 10th year.

Before that Tinkerbell, Tippytoe and Scooter were each about 16, 15 and 13 respectively when my parents put them down because the new dog didn't like them. They did it when I was away planting on the farm that spring. Each of them had some good years ahead of them and they got rid of the dog a couple of years later anyhow. That really made me mad.

X

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oh my gosh! i love dogs, but that is horrible...

My siamese died of natural causes at 19, she was indoor/outdoor
My first cat as an adult was PTS at 13, he lost his fight with cancer.

Vincent Died at 13, he went in for heart sugery and all was fine but the vet tech did not refill the fluid bag thing and was pumping air into his veins and he died.....she got fired none the less

when growing up was as follows.
Fluffy male 19 years died of kidney faliure. was on whiskers i belive most of his life(i know not a good food, but my mum has always fed her cats this untill recently when her 9 year old male started getting utis so not there on royal canin)
then we had flash who died at i think 14 he had kidney cancer
then my cat.
he was only 9 years old when we had to send him over the bridge, he had kidney cancer which started his kidneys to fail he went downhill so quickly and lost so much weight in a matter of 2 weeks.
my oldest at the moment is 15 and he did have a fit a few months back which turned out to be an infection in his liver, that was cleared up with a shot of antibiotics a 10 day course and some steroids. and his fit and healthy again.