3 Happiness Secrets Only Cat Owners Know
November 1, 2016
Keep your cats safe during fireworks
December 6, 2016Is your cat aging well?
It takes a special kind of person to invest deep love in a pet, knowing that with a cat or dog’s shorter life span, we likely will be saying goodbye to them in relatively short order. The loss of a furry family member cuts like a knife and, let’s face it, while there is tons of research going on about human longevity, pets are pretty much second-class citizens when it comes to aging studies.
The lifespan of indoor cats is 12 to 15 years, and since about 20 percent of the cats in the U.S. are now 11 years or older, it would seem we have a feline baby boomer tsunami coming right around the corner, according to the nonprofit International Cat Care.
Cats’ longevity has increased ― they were only living an average of seven years in the early 1980s and just over nine years in 1995.
Healthy aging includes showing none of the so-called “DISHA pattern“ ― disorientation, interaction changes, sleep/wake disturbances, house-soiling and changes in activity.
The researchers say that your cat should retain its ability to play and jump through aging, even if it’s a bit diminished, and should maintain a healthy weight with no major changes to muscle mass or body fat.
Molly Belle 21 years old from USA
One other thing that might help you prolong your cat’s life is to keep him inside. A British study last year found that while the specific causes of death depended on the age of the cat, trauma was the overall leading cause (12.2 percent of all deceased cats), with 60 percent of those deaths attributed to being hit by a car.
For older cats, kidney disease and tumors were also common, whereas young cats were more likely to succumb to viral infections and respiratory disorders.
Cats who were spayed/neutered also lived longer as did those who were seen frequently by a veterinarian.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
