13 years old, 17 years old, 15 years old

Those were all my childhood cats. All died from "old age" - ie nothing like getting hit by a car. The last one had diabetes (well managed with insulin) but no other health problems. I think 12-18 years is about what I would consider normal life span for a cat.

My current cats are 10, they seem like they've got a lot of good years left!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just thinking about this - our current cat is about 14 but suddenly started looking and acting much older and skinnier. We are awaiting labwork results

My previous cats have lived to be 20, 19 and 21! We have been lucky.

Do you mind sharing the results of the lab work?

Sorry, just saw this response. Liver values are way, way off, and some mild kidney disease. The kidney disease is to be expected at this age, but we had a follow-up ultrasound to determine the source of liver problems. The possibilities are infection, parasites or a tumor. Still waiting on the results of the ultrasound but I'm not feeling optimistic.

One cat just dropped dead at 12 (we don't know why). His litter mate is still going strong, appears to be fit as a fiddle.

I'm the OP. I started another thread about the possibility of new cat food bowls leaching something toxic into the food and water. I changed my cat's bowls back to the old bowls and my cat is so much better. He's still not 100% but way, way, way better than he was when I started this thread. Just FYI for any cat (or dog) owners whose pets are mysteriously looking old or ill seemingly overnight.

We lost one at 10 suddenly to a blood clot in the aorta- very shocking as he was healthy and had no issues, and it was clearly very painful for him which was absolutely heartbreaking. His sister from the same litter is still doing fine at age 13.

Anonymous wrote:Just lost my cat at 15.5. I really thought we had another good 3 or 4 years. All of a sudden we noticed he wasn’t eating as much. We moved his bowl closer to his bed, thinking he couldn’t do the stairs. He declined really fast and the vet said feeding tubes at that age and in his condition would just prolong suffering. Still don’t have an underlying cause, though likely a cancer or other underlying problem. I am heartbroken. He was a great cat.

We just lost our cat at the same age. I seriously thought he had a few more good years left, but he went downhill fast. I knew it was a bad sign when he completely stopped grooming himself. Around that time he totally lost his appetite as well. We just tried to make his last few days as comfortable as we could and we were with him when he passed. So glad he didn’t die outside alone.

He was a great cat though and a member of the family and will be sorely missed.

Anonymous wrote:For those whose cats lived 19+ years, what do you attribute it to? How often did they see the vet? Did you do treatments that prolonged their lives?

I have a 21 year old. Honestly, I think it’s just stubbornness! We only take her to the vet when she’s ill, so once every few years. She got regular shots and visits for at least the first ten years, though. If she gets any serious illnesses, we wouldn’t prolong her life with treatment. Not at this age.

One lived to 21, the other was 23. We got both when I was a little girl and they died long after I'd moved away from home.

Indoor/outdoor cats who regularly tussled with raccoons or disappeared for a week at a time. Standoffish to strangers, but sweet and cuddly with family. My mom was not exactly a cat person, and they got "annual" checkups about once every 3 years. No medication, ever. So I can't explain it - just hearty genes and good luck, I guess.

Both were going strong until around 18 or 19, then started looking "old". Both had a final 3-6 months of steady decline, until they just didn't get up one day. Never had a real cause of death, didn't seem worth any testing for illness when they were that age.

Anonymous wrote:For those whose cats lived 19+ years, what do you attribute it to? How often did they see the vet? Did you do treatments that prolonged their lives?

My childhood cats lived to 20 and 21. They were outdoor cats but kept inside overnight. Fed normal cat food and treats of regular meat. They were taken to see a vet once a year and were not overweight. My aunt’s cat lived to be 26. She was also an outdoor cat and was always really tiny.

Our cat was 8 when we put her down after discovering renal failure 10 months prior. This was 5 years ago and we got 2 new cats last year but I still sometimes miss her.

Mine was almost 19.

I now have ones that are 15 and 18, so I know out time together is limited. Sigh.

Anonymous wrote:Just lost 7-month-old kitten to FIP. We tried an experimental antiviral and it bought him a few really good months but ultimately he was one of the small percentage where the virus becomes resistant to the drug.

We haven't had good luck with cats. We also lost a 5-year-old cat to a congenital kidney disease, an 8-year-old cat to lymphoma, and a 12-year-old cat to lymphoma. People whose cats live to be 16-20 seem like myths to me.

We are taking a long break from pet ownership, possibly permanent. A kitten dying is hell. We did the best we could for him but unfortunately it was not enough.

Sorry, PP. losing a kitten is terrible

I had a long haired cat that lived to be 19 when I was growing up. He was an indoor/outdoor cat.

Just lost 7-month-old kitten to FIP. We tried an experimental antiviral and it bought him a few really good months but ultimately he was one of the small percentage where the virus becomes resistant to the drug.

We haven't had good luck with cats. We also lost a 5-year-old cat to a congenital kidney disease, an 8-year-old cat to lymphoma, and a 12-year-old cat to lymphoma. People whose cats live to be 16-20 seem like myths to me.

We are taking a long break from pet ownership, possibly permanent. A kitten dying is hell. We did the best we could for him but unfortunately it was not enough.

2 cats, siblings- just shy of 20 years, heart attack in first one and grief a couple of months later in second one.

1 cat- 16 years, cancer. He deteriorated rapidly.

Heartbroken every time. They are family.