Skyler Ware is a freelance science journalist covering chemistry, biology, paleontology and Earth science. She was a 2023 AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellow at Science News. Her work has also appeared in Science News Explores, ZME Science and Chembites, among others. Skyler has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech.
Burmese and Birman cats have the longest average life expectancies among common pet cat breeds, according to a new study. Sphynx cats, meanwhile, die the youngest, on average.
"The main motivation was to use data to empower people" to make informed decisions about their cat's health care, said study co-author Dan O'Neill, a companion-animal epidemiologist at the Royal Veterinary College in London. Pet cats in the U.K. had an average life expectancy of 11.7 years at birth, the study found. On the whole, crossbred cats lived about 1.5 years longer than purebred ones. Burmese and Birman cats had the longest life expectancies at birth, each averaging 14.4 years. Sphynx cats' life expectancies were less than half as long — a mere 6.7 years — possibly because of a genetic predisposition to heart conditions or other diseases.
Cultural preferences, like whether cats should be kept indoors or allowed outside, could also influence a cat's estimated life span, the researchers reported. Such preferences vary widely but are difficult to quantify. That's because veterinary clinics don't record whether or how often a cat goes outside, and a cat's outdoor adventures might become more or less frequent if it's rehomed later in life, O'Neill said.
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