If you are planning on getting or adopting a cat, you might be wondering exactly how long do cats live? Well, as the saying goes,? Cats have nine lives.? But how true is that saying?
According to PetMD, the average lifespan of a cat is between 2 and 16 years. Which, by the way, is two years longer than the average dog’s life. This means that with proper care and enough love you can have a feline companion for sixteen or more years.
According to veterinarian statistics, the cats who spend a significant time outdoors without any supervision can expect to live to be about seven years old. On the other hand, cats who live their lives indoors are expected to live to be about fourteen years old.
If you have a cat who lived longer than fourteen or even sixteen years of age, then good for you! You are doing a great job of raising your feline companions. However, unexpected diseases in felines are common, so each cat still needs their dose of vaccine shots and regular vet visits to ensure they are in the best shape.
A lot of us also wonder how a cat’s age compared to human years. There is a famous formula used by the masses. Simply put, you multiply your cat’s actual age by five to get its age in human years. So, if your cat is aged 1, then you multiply that by five. However, this is highly inaccurate and has no certainty.
Thankfully, the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Association of Feline Practitioners has produced a chart which compares the human and feline life stages by the numbers. The chart does a much better job than the famous x5 formula. Check it out below:
| Age of Cat | Human
Age Equivalent |
| 0-1 month | 0-1 year |
| 2-3 months | 2-4 years |
| 4 months | 6-8 years |
| 6 months | 10 years |
| 7 months | 12 years |
| 12 months | 15 years |
| 18 months | 21 years |
| 2 years | 24 years |
| 3 years | 28 years |
| 4 years | 32 years |
| 5 years | 36 years |
| 6 years | 40 years |
| 7 years | 44 years |
| 8 years | 48 years |
| 9 years | 52 years |
| 10 years | 56 years |
| 11 years | 60 years |
| 12 years | 64 years |
| 13 years | 68 years |
| 14 years | 72 years |
| 15 years | 76 years |
| 16 years | 80 years |
| 17 years | 84 years |
| 18 years | 88 years |
| 19 years | 92 years |
| 20 years | 96 years |
