Average life expectancy of indoor and outdoor cats...

[Kirsten]

Can anyone help me here with exact numbers? I know it has been posted before and I would like to use this information for www.catmom.de . I can only remember that the life expectation of indoor cats is much higher, and that somewhere was mentioned the average lifespan of an outdoor cat was only 2 years. :confused:

Does anyone know a link I can relate to?

Thanks in advance,
Kirsten

[Craftlady]

Heres one link

Life Expectancy (http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=684)

[Kirsten]

Thank you! :)

This is exactly the information I was looking for! :)

I've bookmarked it to have it at hand when I'm writing the article! :)

Kirsten

[Grace]

Originally posted by Craftlady
Here's one link

Life Expectancy (http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=684)

I'm speechless. Until just recently our cats have all been indoor-outdoor. Only one of those died really young - 2 years. All the rest, and I'm talking about 8 cats over the years, lived to be 14 to 17 years old.

I agree they should be indoor only - just really surprised at the ages quoted.

[Kirsten]

just really surprised at the ages quoted.

I think the quote is so low because many outdoor cats have accidents in their first year when they are still unexperienced and don't know the dangers.

Kirsten

[DJFyrewolf36]

Originally posted by Kirsten
I think the quote is so low because many outdoor cats have accidents in their first year when they are still unexperienced and don't know the dangers.

Kirsten

This is true. I've noticed that an outdoor cat generally lives quite a long time if it gets past the hurdle of inexperence. The other thing is the high mortality rate of outdoor kittens *due to disease, exposure etc*...do they count kittens younger than a year the averages? If so, that would explain why the average is so low.

[wolflady]

I was reading in Cat Fancy about this same topic. I can't remember which issue it was in, but they also stated indoor cats average lifespan is 17 years, and average life span for outdoor cats was 2-5.

Interesting point about them considering kittens in these stats. I have to imagine that so many outdoor kitties die before the age of one year :(

[Tonya]

Yeah, all of the outdoor cats that I know are old. My husband's childhood cat, Sparky, has the worse outdoor situation you could think of. When they were building the house, he was a little stray kitten that showed up on the property. His mom hates animals, so they were only allowed to feed him outside. (Over the years, she's grown to love Sparky.) He lives in the foothills where there are rattlesnakes, coyotes, etc...I cannot believe he's made it this far. Now, he's at the age where he doesn't care to go out anymore.

I just assume keep my cats inside, but if someone is going to make their cats outside cats, the least they could do is wait until they are adults. :mad:

[Kirsten]

I'm pretty sure that kittens are in the statistic. Maybe not those who are born wild, but adopted kittens that have lost their lives... And not only the babies, also young adults are still at high risk. Remember Luna's childhood friend, Cleo? She died a couple of weeks before her first birthday; she was hit by a car. :(

I think - like Fyrewolf has said - when they have reached a certain age and know that they have to be careful, they can get old. I saw a cat living in my old neighborhood that must have been VERY old because she seemed to have been there forever. She always sat on the pavement or under the parking cars, but nothing ever happened to her.

Kirsten

[DJFyrewolf36]

The feral cat near my apartment, Slice is at least 7 or 8 acording to some people who have lived in our complex for a while. I think he was hit once by a car already. Poor guy, don't think anyone took him to the vet either. He walks with a bit of a limp and he doesn't seem to have all of his motor skills :(

[Kirsten]

Poor boy! :(

Kirsten

[DJFyrewolf36]

Don't know if you've seen it but this is him

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Honkers36/Remus/7-18-04c.jpg

Poor guy is right. Wish I could just adopt him but he doesn't seem to play well with other cats.

[catmandu]

I do know that Outdoor Cats,are outlived by Indoor Cats,by several years!

[Fox-Gal]

Wow I have to say I'm suprised too. I knew that the life expectancy was lower on outdoor cats but I didn't think they would say it was that much lower.

Even sense I was a child we had indoor/outdoor cats and not one of then had a short life. Snowpaws lived to be 28! :eek: Tasha was 17, Tigger was 18, so on and so on. Of course we where lucky and lived in areas where they could be indoor/outdoor cats safer then the average area.

Maybe the study needs to have a thrid catagory: Live expectancy of a indoor/outdoor cat, with proper care. Not that I don't think that the study is right, but sometimes studies are to black and white. They most likely did full outdoor cats and fully indoor cats not acounting for the hafe and hafe group.


if someone is going to make their cats outside cats, the least they could do is wait until they are adults.

I think that's that's that most inportant thing, every stray kitten I've taken in lived inside till they reach a age where I felt they where safe/smarter etc. and then the outside time was supervised for ahwile. Not that I want them to be outdoors, but I have too many for them all to be indoors full time, but they ALL are allowed inside when they want. My only other choice would have been to take then to the shelter and in our area they most likely would live a caged life, so sometimes you have to make a choise of the better of two evils.

[K & L]

A "feral" cats life span on the average is 1 - 2 years. This is due to not being fed on a regular basis, diseases from poor nutrition, and lack of vet care. At least with an "outdoor pet cat" they are fed and cared for, which helps their life span to be longer.

[Logan]

My indoor/outdoor cat is quite experienced, I guess. But I completely understand the risk of allowing her and her brother outdoors. :) Mimi is 15 years old, and Butter, we think, is around 6-7 years old. They obviously like it here because they don't venture far out of our yard. :)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b2d836b3127cce9e0ad44c6ba40000003610

[Grace]

Originally posted by Fox-Gal
Maybe the study needs to have a third category: Life expectancy of a indoor/outdoor cat, with proper care. Not that I don't think that the study is right, but sometimes studies are too black and white. They most likely did full outdoor cats and fully indoor cats not acounting for the half and half group.


I think that's why I was so surprised - I was thinking of mine who are indoor/outdoor in a safe environment and a reasonable amount of supervision. All of mine who have been indoor/outdoor were not exposed to the outside for several months after we got them, and then were closely watched.

And right now they are more indoor than out - epecially in inclement weather.

[Tonya]

My friend (she's also my brother's roomate) has two outdoor only cats. Indoor/outdoor doesn't bother me, but outdoor only?! It irks the heck out of me. Jeff lets the cats in whenever she isn't home. She recently found out and yelled at him...told him that if he can't follow her requests, he can find another place to live. :mad:

[heinz57_79]

I think another factor adding to outdoor life expectancy is vaccinations. If the cat is vaccinated there's a lesser chance of it contracting a fatal disease or virus. Also, if it's an indoor/outdoor cat you'd think the owner would notice of the cat was sick and would take it to the vet, which would add to life expectancy, assuming, of course, that the ailment was curable. But that leads back to vaccinations. :)

[Kirsten]

Well, I think I will mention that possibility of a third category in my article. Would like to know if the study has included the ferals though.

K&L, 1 - 2 years was what I've once read, and I guess that was referring to ferals also.

BTW, I didn't work on the article today, it's too hot and my brain is boiling! :(

Kirsten

[PayItForward]

Inside/outside cats live nearly as long as inside only cats plus they have a much more interesting & varied existence.

The studies you have quoted returning average life span of less than 10 years, includes feral cats, strays & very young kittens.

If a study looked at inside/outside cats who were older than 6 months, neutered and trained to be outside, the average life expectance leaps to 15 years to 18 years, the drop from the slightly higher life range for inside cats, takes into account the 2% lifetime chance a cat has of dying on the roads.

In reality if the cat is well cared for there is very little difference between an inside/outside cat and an inside only cat.

I think I will do a study on the issue when I start by cat behaviourist course in October.

[kuhio98]

Kuhio was an indoor/outdoor cat. She lived just over 17 years. But, she had all her vaccinations and regular checkups. She came in contact with lots of wild animals -- squirrels, mice, ermine's, etc. but no cars, thank goodness.

[Grace]

Yeah - all of ours have their vaccinations up to date. And we (I) tend to notice immediately when something is not quite right.

The only one we've had who died before his time was Henry - he was just over two years when he died. We never sent any tissue samples off, but the Vet thought West Nile might have been the cause.

[K & L]

I think a lot depends on locations and situations. We live in a VERY busy city where I see cats dead on the side of the road frequently. We also have some sick individuals who love to do terrible things to them. We use to let ours come and go through the doggy door until a some things happened to a couple of our cats. Luckily it wasn't fatal but scary enough to close the doggy door forever! Good luck on your report!

[Kirsten]

Yes, I think it depends a lot on where you live! Germany is a very closely populated country, so I think the chances for outdoor cats are not so good. There are exceptions though. Some cats are just lucky or have good instincts.


Good luck on your report!

Thanks a lot! I haven't started yet because the heat here makes me dizzy and gives me a headache. Just too hot to use my brain!

Kirsten

[smokey the elder]

Indoor/outdoor cats who go outdoors during the day only, and are microchipped and vaccinated can do just fine. Our rescue group recommends only letting them out if it's a quiet (traffic wise) area, and they are altered so they don't bring home any "surprises". Maintenance is higher, since they have to be dewormed and deflea'd periodically, but some cats just cannot tolerate being indoors all the time.

[catmandu]

The Avearge life span,for an uncared for Stary Cat,is about 5 years,andthey are very hard years,bothered by Mean People,and predators,and by hunger,and the elements! And beig dirty,which cats loathe,more than anyhthing!

[DogLover9501]

Tigger is an inside/outside cat, he sleeps inside, and stays inside all day if he wants to, but also is allowed out when he wants to(unless its dark).

He doesn't venture, he doesn't leave the yard often, I guess he's too lazy :p

And he is almost 8 years old.

Also, the site is looking good! :)