How long do cats live?

I was just curious how long do cats live? My cat is 15 years old.

I've only had one cat that has crossed to Rainbow Bridge; he was approximately four years old and died of cancer. My neighbor had a cat, though, that lived to 22. And that cat was an indoor-outdoor cat all its life, too.

There was a cat at the clinic I used to work for who lived to be 26!!!!!

this question is two questions:

How old are cats when they die - or if we want:

a) average live-lenght for cats surviving kitten-hood.

and the second possible question:

b) how long live can a cat reasonably have - provided it is more or less healthy, no major accidents and so on.


In any case, in a scientific book I do read now about domestic cats: Bradshaw John: The behaviour of the domestic cat - 10 years old book but one of the best!
he says they are getting old when about 16 years.
Usually they dont have sickeness of the old age before this he says...

A) would be 10-13 yrs

B) with proper food and love and care a domestic cat should reach 25 to 30 yrs of age...

a friend of a friend has a 25 year old cat...healthy and active too...its documented as well...maybe a guiness canidate....

all of my cats have lived to be 15-20. i had a few 18 year olds, and one 16 but he had a lot of medical problems in his life, poor guy. my neighbor had a 24 year old cat, for all i know that ol girl might still be alive and kicking somewhere.

My oldest lived to be 21 We adopted her when she was 10. A gentle loving Siamese stray that had
been declawed.! I have had two other siamese that lived untill 16. All died from kidney failure.

Not Long Enough.

One of my RB cats passed at 16 of heart failure, and the other at 16 (just a few days shy of 17) - she had heart failure, kidney failure, and hyperthyroid.

I think my vet says cats should get their senior exams starting at around 9 years of age...my cat's hyperthyroid was discovered at 11, and her kidney failure at 12.

The oldest cat I've seen personally was a patient at the vet clinic - she was 26, and very, very frail. They had a lot of cat patients make it to 18, and less commonly, 20.

The cat I grew up with lived to be 18 and was an indoor/outdoor cat with no claws!!!

First cat (Mitten) was 13 when he died of cancer.

Our retired rex is currently 14 yrs old - his parents/grandparents ranged from 16-18 yrs old when they died. We know he doesn't have much longer.

Inside cats will live longer then outside ones.

Also our one household pet show cat lived to be 18 yrs old (she was taken off the streets at 7 months of age).

Nikko lived to age 19.5 , indoor /outdoor

Simon about 12 he was feral yet domesticaed with me

Kandie is 17, front declaw indoor / outdoor

Zoey is 19 months..indoor / enclosed outdoor

My grandparents (who I lived with) had a cat that lived to be 23. They found her as a kitten near the road by a farm. They stopped and grabbed her up and then asked the farmer if they could take her. Her digestive system was pretty bad the last few years, and it eventually completely failed. She was a very friendly kitty, who always stayed by my Grandpa's side. We are pretty sure she was on the bed as he passed in his sleep. She remained friendly and sweet for the 4 years she had to endure without him. My Grandma named one of the abandoned kittens after her. We later found out the kitten was a boy, but the name Frisky isn't necessarily feminine, and it suits him well.

We have about twelve cats ages 20+ that we see at the vet clinic where I work, and a great many more in the 16-19 ranges. We had one trooper make it to 23, but then he threw a series of blood clots. ;_; His name was Sleazy and he was a wonderful, friendly old man. We currently have a 21 year-old fractious, declawed, 4 lb, blind, and mostly toothless (one fang left, and it's *black* ) himalayan boarding with us. She's a little nightmare, but I'm fond of her. XD

My sweet Tess passed two years ago at 22.
She lived so long because she was soooo spoiled and soooo loved. (nothing wrong with that!)

The other cats in my life have all been 15+.
They all were healthy up to 15-16 (including Tess), then they either died abruptly one day or had lingering deaths. The second oldest was 18, but he was run over by a car *sob*

I've always thought age 15 was a respectable age.

I had no idea cats lived that long. That is encouraging. I also have a 2year old dog and sometimes i wonder if our cat will outlive our dog (boxer). I've heard that could be possible too.

I had a frined who`s little girl found a 6 week old (not any more than that!) kitten in their driveway .., there were also 2 dead ones in the road (Can you belive that anyone would drop tiny, little, defenceless creatures off to fend for themselves? P***** me right off!) Anyhow...I told her that the kitten might not make it.....but he did! He lived to be 22 years old...and he was an indoor-outdoor cat.

Star lived to be 17.
Madge died of multiple problems one year ago last week at 13.6.
Her sister, Mitty, is still with us now at 14.7
Our new kitten will probably drive Mitty to an early grave, the way things are going around here.