For Those Of You Who Have Had Cats Live To Their Late Teens Or 20's, What's Your Secret?

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

Some things that I've heard:

• Get high-quality cat food
• Brush their teeth
• Put a drop of water in their wet food. Keeps it fresher for longer, and they will drink it to get to the meaty part. Dehydration and kidney issues are common for males

 

[Willowy]

Honestly I think a lot of it is luck and genetics. My family's first 2 cats lived to be 21, and we didn't do anything special. They ate mid-grade dry food almost exclusively until they were 16, and after they were diagnosed with kidney failure we started giving them canned food but no other treatment.

I haven't had any other cats live past 18 yet. Even with expensive vet care and an all-canned diet. So, yeah, as long as you avoid accidents and really bad stuff (feeding dog food or other unbalanced diet, neglecting basic medical care, etc.), it mostly comes down to that cat's individual constitution.

 

[cheesycats]

My childhood Bombay cat is in his 20s at this point. Not sure exactly how old but over 20 definitely and tbh he’s been on Iams cat food and fancy feast pates his whole life pretty much. He hasn’t had any issues except teeth problems and he doesn’t have many teeth left really at this point. But I think keeping them indoor, incorporating wet food as much as you can, dental-cleanings, and just general vet labs semi regularly is the best things you can do. Genetics will also play a big part as well.

 

[Furballsmom]

I knew the sweetest little runt of the litter Persian mix that lived to 23 and then unfortunately her kidneys gave up. In her case as well, I don't believe anything particularly special was done by her family, although when she reached 17 or so they started letting her up on counters and tables. They said that at that age, she totally deserved to be able to do anything she wanted to. Gracious, she was such an utter sweetheart of a cat, thanks for reminding me of her!
EDIT, she was an indoor only, now that I think of it.
Every time I hear of cats living to such ripe old ages, I whisper in my Big Guy's ear - see? That's how it's done, now pay attention ya big lug

 

[Brian007]

No teeth.

 

[nansiludie]

My oldest cat right now is 12. She's currently the oldest cat I've ever had. I can't usually get mine to live past 10 yrs old.

 

[denice]

I have one here now that is 15 1/2 and other then having very few teeth left she is still good. Other than dental issues she hasn't had any health issues. I just lost my other cat a couple of weeks ago and he was only a few months older then Alice. He had his first IBD flare when he was only 18 months old. There were 3 hospitalizations, one for fatty liver and he was on a steroid the last 8 years of his life. Same household, same food, same vet visits for checkups so yes genetics is a big part of it. My cats are indoor only. Unless you have a cat safe way for them to be outside I think keeping them indoors is the one single thing that you can control that makes a big difference.

 

[CaliCatCharlie]

I grew up with a Siamese, Gertrude Isabella. She lived 22 years! It has to be genetics...

My mom was a two pack a day smoker and Gertrude was at her feet or on her lap most of her life. She ate dry Purina cat chow. And never had one issue. Regular vet visits once a year and indoor only.

My crazy mom even declawed her

But she was the sweetest, happiest cat I have ever known. I have a pic of us together in a frame I look at every day!

 

[lacy2000]

I don’t think there’s a secret. When my mom was a kid, her family fed a friendly feral cat that never had to go to the vet and never had any issues. She lived until 22 years old!

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

I grew up with a Siamese, Gertrude Isabella. She lived 22 years! It has to be genetics...

CaliCatCharlie - Siameseses live long lives because it's their job to make our Lives miserable - hence the old poem:

A man who lives with Siameses
Can never do just as he pleases!

I've had my fair share of cats over the last sixty years, and to be honest, it's Siameses of every stripe who've lived long lives. Busy, my first cat, went just short of twenty-one years; Tsing went twenty-three, and Measle went twenty-six. When my Father passed away, I inherited his ancient Siamese - Victoria - who, despite weighing less than six pounds, was only days from her thirtieth birthday when she gave up. My vet is a very close Friend, and when he'd met Moo Sho, the Evil Snowshoe for about the third time, he said one Saturday afternoon, "have you done the math on Moo Shu?"

I said that I had no idea what he was going on about and he said, "look at the ages of your Siameses - each one lives about three years longer than the previous one," and knowing Moo Shu's temperament, he laughed hysterically and said, "Thirty-two years. My God - you'll be in your nineties!" I very nearly knocked him out of the canoe.

I've two domestics currently - Peanut, a longhair, and Lance, a shorthair - who are due to turn 21 in April, and over the years I've had quite a few others in the 18 to 21 year old bracket, but my answer will be of very little value, I'm afraid. Aside from the most simplistic things - keeping the litter boxes scrupulously clean, and never filling them more than an inch, to prevent the "blowback" which often causes UTIs - and feeding them the canned and dry foods which the enjoy eating, I do only one absolutely magical thing: I hold each one of them close every day, and remind them every day that they are safe, and Loved, and that they have an home forever.

I realise it's foolish to attribute long Lives to something so silly, and hence, the above is offered only anecdotally. Mine are all either ex-ferals (8 currently) or castaways (3), and I have an hunch that these cats genuinely respond to being Loved. They're almost never (literally) ill, and they get on with one another with no bickering whatsoever. Yes, they do see their Veterinarian on an almost weekly basis, simply because he and I are Friends, and he does very often handle them, giving them the "once-over" while he's here, but with no medical intervention in many, many years. Take it with a grain of salt.
.

 

[Geoffrey]

I have had Siamese since 1961 and apart from the first, who was hit by a car, most lived until late teens and two lived to 20 and 21. However our last, Rupert, died of renal failure at 14 at the end of 2016, but he was the only one who was a rescue. We had him as a kitten aged 11 months.

Probably long life was genetic to a high proportion of my Siamese, many were related. Simmy, in the large flower pot shown, died of a stroke aged 19. All were indoor/outdoor cats.

Geoffrey

 

[dragoriana]

Definitely luck and genetics as one person said. Ours were mostly outdoors, most recent 3 indoors. The oldest outdoor lived to about 15 but she ended up with a horrific cancer, it could have been from all the sun exposure. Charlie was on his way to 18, he was outdoors the first half of his life, but he still ended up with many health issues as an old cat. We kept his blood pressure under control, plenty of water and swapped the food to keep the kidneys going. I don't really know if there is a secret. It's like humans I suppose. You could spend your entire life eating well exercising and end up getting some disease, while others eat bad, are slugs and live a long life. I think in some cases its random if it isn't genetics and lifestyle. When I hear someone has a 20 something cat i'm in awe.

 

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

My childhood Bombay cat is in his 20s at this point. Not sure exactly how old but over 20 definitely and tbh he’s been on Iams cat food and fancy feast pates his whole life pretty much. He hasn’t had any issues except teeth problems and he doesn’t have many teeth left really at this point. But I think keeping them indoor, incorporating wet food as much as you can, dental-cleanings, and just general vet labs semi regularly is the best things you can do. Genetics will also play a big part as well.

Did you get the cat from a breeder or self-identify? The reason why I ask is that nine times out of 10 when people say the cat is a Bombay, the kitty is actually just a domestic shorthair black kitty.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bombays are such lovely cats, I missed that part of that post

 

[NiamhyNuu]

My previous cat named Lucky, she lived to the ripe age of 19. We found her in a plastic bag in a hedge as a tiny wee thing and after that she was afraid of the outdoors.
She had her main teeth removed when she was 11 due to medical, seemed like they'd been knocked loose by banging her face into something, probably the window when she tried to catch the birds on the other side of it...
But we did nothing special. She was overweight, had no teeth, was fed felix wet food and gocat crunchies (cheap stuff), sometimes would venture to the doorstep on a sunny day, and she would batter the dogs if they bothered her. She just was lucky

 

[Furballsmom]

1CatOverTheLine thats just outrageous, nearly 30 years old. I'm speechless. Umm, almost, --interesting thought regarding the depth of the litter!
Well heck, they give us the magic of themselves, don't they.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

1CatOverTheLine thats just outrageous, nearly 30 years old. I'm speechless. Umm, almost, --interesting thought regarding the depth of the litter!
Well heck, they give us the magic of themselves, don't they.

Furballsmom - Less than nine more years and she'd have been the record holder.


.

 

[Furballsmom]

Incredible

 

[cheesycats]

Did you get the cat from a breeder or self-identify? The reason why I ask is that nine times out of 10 when people say the cat is a Bombay, the kitty is actually just a domestic shorthair black kitty.

Definitely self identify. He has all the features and personality qualities of a textbook Bombay though. I brought a book home of cat breeds from the library one day when I was little and the Bombay page was shockingly similar to him and after we did some further reasearch on the breed my mom always just called him a Bombay. There’s no real way of knowing of course. We were given him by a lady my mom worked with who didn’t have the time for him and that was probably back in 2000 and he was already 4-5 then.

 

[cheesycats]

Also something to add is weight. I think as with anything a cat at a healthy weight that is played with frequently with add at least a couple years into anything’s life really. Human, cat, dogs etc. we all benefit greatly from exercise. And of course hugging them and rubbing thier belly’s (if they’re into that) and petting them bye when we leave.