Friday, May 21, 2010

How long do cats live?

We have Tigger who is about 16 years old and the past few days we have noticed that he is losing weight and acting weird. We have a baby gate up so the puppies can't get in the laundry room where his food and litter box are and he isn't able to get over it anymore. This is the only cat that I have ever had that was this old so I am wondering if this is normal when they get old and if this could just be a phase. If this isn't a phase do they live much longer once this happens? Thank you in advance, my husband got Tigger when he was in middle school so he is part of the family.
Answers:
Cats can live anywhere from 15 to 25 years on average.

Tigger is a senior cat, and it's not surprising that he really doesn't feel like jumping over a baby gate anymore. At 16, he is the equivalent of a 77 year old man.

As far as how long he'll live, no one can really know that. From the sounds of it, he's reaching the end of his life, but the only way to know for sure is to take him to a vet. A vet will be able to tell you if Tigger's weight loss is a normal part of aging, if he thinks he's dying, or if he's sick.

Good luck!
Tigger is quite an old cat. His behaivor sounds normal for his advanced age. It's possible he's in pain, so please take him to the vet. My in laws cat was 14 and lost weight, became lethargic, and never recovered.
Some cats are known to live up to 31 years. I know the hairless ones do. But your may be dying of old age or maybe he is sick. Take him to the vet.
16 is a pretty good age for a cat to get to. 20 is usually really pushing the limit, although the oldest cat ever lived to 37.
My cat sylvester lived to be 17. But in his last month he went down hill. He lost so much weight, he wouldn't or couldn't eat. He did not go to the bathroom at all the last 2 or 3 days that he was alive. He was very weak and when I petted him it was like he almost fell over. We had to put him to sleep, he was miserable. I was so upset. It was about 2 Christmas's ago. I hope your kitty is ok.
Get tigger to the vets 16 is a good age for a cat and I think he needs to go. It may not be anything but he is a very old cat in cat years he is about 75 yrs old
I think the record age for a cat is less than thirty years, but sixteen is quite old for most cats.
Take Tigger to the vet. He may just be sick, or he may be at the end of the road.
your cat is at the end of it's rope
Way to long. They should be put down when they are kittens or sent to the chinese restaurants.
My siamese lived to be 20. This is quite long for a cat, although I've heard of longer life spans. I believe 16 to 18 is about normal for a house cat. less for an outside cat.
This is normal for a cat who's older than 15 or so. Tigger could be sick, take him to the vet for a checkup.
Given proper care, nutrition, and regular veterinary visits, a cat kept indoors can live as long as 21 years or more. (The average age of cats is 12-15 years) This is, of course, barring any serious medical conditions.
Unfortunately Tigger is quite old for a cat. They can live up to 20 years or so. I would take him to the vet immediately. If he is part of the family, then he is definitely worth the money you will spend. Good luck!!
My parents had 1 that lived to be 21 - when they stop grooming themselves is also a sign.
this is normal.don't worry ur doing great to have that many healthy years! when his #z up he will go,just don't allow him 2 suffer if u see he's declining.hope this helps.good luck!
We had cats live to be 20 and 21 if well taken care of and loved. He might have a health problem like uti or worms. I would have him checked out especially because puppies are carriers of worms from birth. If he cannot get over the gate anymore does he live in the laundry room now. This could be part of his problem too a feeling of being displaced.
My cat is about 16 as well. He has lost allot of weight at acts weird as well but he has been that way since he was about 14. Vets say his weight loss is due to thyroid problem not his age. My cat gets around fine still jump on stuff and gets into stuff i don't want him in oh well. Of course my cats name is Yoda. When 900 cat years old your cat reaches look as good it will not.
I know how you feel, I just put my 18 year old cat to sleep a few days ago. I have had many cats and they all lived for 15 plus years, Cats go through many changes in personality through out their lives mostly unnoticeable to us but as long as your cat is eating and happy it is OK. Older cats do lose weight and it is a good sign that your cat is going to need to need to be put to sleep in short time (could be days weeks months years) it is normal for a cat to lose weight when it gets to the geriatric years just like most animals. Cats are hard to predict but as long as the cat is not in pain just make sure you spend as much time with him/her as you can because we all know the end is inevitable but when is the real question.
Do what is best for the cat and take him to the vet for diagnosis. You aren't going to get an accurate answer to a question of this importance on this medium.
tigger still has a lot of years in him.have you thought about stuffing tigger? Might keep him going another 20 years
I have two senior cats, both are 16. Alex started to lose weight and act drunk. I found out he is suffering from hyperthyroidism and heart problems. We are treating him and he's holding his own. He's still really skinny because we had to take him off the thyroid medicine because of the side effects, which can be fierce.It could be time for Tigger to have a full work up with the Vet.
My cat is 19 1/2 years old. Over a year ago she lost three pounds for no apparent reason and wasn't grooming herself very well. I took her in to the vet for all kinds of tests, a full workup.

Turns up she is just an old cat. Her weight has stabilized, and I supplement her dry food with canned food or Gerber strained meats. She has arthritis in her hip and can't groom herself so well, so I have to do more for her. She still can jump up on my bed and get up and down the stairs ok. If that becomes a problem I'll get her a step stool and move the litter box.

She has definitely gotten "weirder" as she gets older. But she's still my little baby and I love her.

I got scared that she was dying and ran out and adopted two feral cats from the shelter. That way I will never be "catless". Getting the new kitties actually perked her up and she became more playful!
Most cats live to about 12 or so, but I had a cat that lived to be 18!
I've had 4 cats. 2 lived to be 19 1 18, and my girl was 16. The last two stopped eating pretty much at the end and I had to hav e them put to sleep after talking to the vet. It broke my heart but the vet told me it was the humane thing to do.
Cats live an average of 15-20 years. It sounds like you need to take Tigger to the vet for a check up. At his age it could be anything. Best of luck.

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