Average Lifespan of Indoor vs Outdoor Cats

The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of a
cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section of www.odd-info.com

In ,
javawizard typed, for some strange, unexplained
reason:
: The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of a
: cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section of
: www.odd-info.com

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53) and
all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:59:37 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
wrote:

In ,
javawizard typed, for some strange, unexplained
reason:
: The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of a
: cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section of
: www.odd-info.com

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53) and
all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53) and
all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Outdoor cats = feral cats.

A LOT different than indoor/outdoor cats.

Feral cats eat what they can catch and kill.

No vet care at all.

Parasites. Feline viruses. Fights with other cats.

They basically live long enough to reproduce; a few litters, most of
whom don't live past being kittens.

Life as a feral cat is short, and brutal.

I have the deepest admiration for those who 'manage' feral colonies, by
TNR, and vet care, and of course, food.

Feral cats who have someone (or several people) looking out for them,
live much, much longer (and far, far better quality of life) lives than
'true' feral cats do.

Fat lot YOU know.

Google 'feral cats', and read up.

Gandalf wrote:

On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:59:37 -0000, "Ivor Jones"
wrote:

In
,
javawizard typed, for some strange, unexplained
reason:
: The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of
: a cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section of
: www.odd-info.com

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53)
and all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53)
and all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Outdoor cats = feral cats.


He purposely neglected to call them feral cats so he could post this.
Just ignore him. The multiposting is also a clue, but not all
multiposts are by trolls.
I knew a feral cat that lived many years. His name was Jetadiah. He
was a good friend, but hated being indoors and would not voluntarily
enter the house.

--
Peace,
Fred
(Remove FFFf from my email address to reply by email).

In ,
Gandalf typed, for some strange, unexplained reason:

[snip]

: Outdoor cats = feral cats.

Wrong.

Ivor

: The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of
: a cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section of
: www.odd-info.com

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53)
and all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53)
and all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Outdoor cats = feral cats.


He purposely neglected to call them feral cats so he could post this.
Just ignore him. The multiposting is also a clue, but not all
multiposts are by trolls.
I knew a feral cat that lived many years. His name was Jetadiah. He
was a good friend, but hated being indoors and would not voluntarily
enter the house.


A feral cat that is completely outdoors could live many years if it is
being fed and supplied a place to get out of the weather.

I fed a cat that was feral for 7 or 8 years and he could get in the
neighors garage and out of the weather. He would not let me anywhere
near him but yet knew when he seen me coming that I was going to feed
him and came to wait on me just far enough out of reach. Do not know
how old he was but he was an adult when I started feeding him.

He disappeared one summer and we finally found him in a corner of the
garage where he evidently slept and he was gone and I cryed like a
kid. Then again I have heard of house cats that were a few years old
getting hit or killed when being left out.

Numbers do not tell the whole story and each cat is different.

This being said let me say that I am and always will be an indoor cat
person. I could no more imaine my 4 legged babies being out wandering
alone then I could my 2 legged babies.

"kraut" wrote in message
...

: The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of
: a cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section of
: www.odd-info.com

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53)
and all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Fat lot you know. I've had indoor/outdoor cats all my life (I'm 53)
and all have lived to at least 17-18.

Ivor

Outdoor cats = feral cats.


He purposely neglected to call them feral cats so he could post
this.
Just ignore him. The multiposting is also a clue, but not all
multiposts are by trolls.
I knew a feral cat that lived many years. His name was Jetadiah.
He
was a good friend, but hated being indoors and would not voluntarily
enter the house.


A feral cat that is completely outdoors could live many years if it is
being fed and supplied a place to get out of the weather.

I fed a cat that was feral for 7 or 8 years and he could get in the
neighors garage and out of the weather. He would not let me anywhere
near him but yet knew when he seen me coming that I was going to feed
him and came to wait on me just far enough out of reach. Do not know
how old he was but he was an adult when I started feeding him.

He disappeared one summer and we finally found him in a corner of the
garage where he evidently slept and he was gone and I cryed like a
kid. Then again I have heard of house cats that were a few years old
getting hit or killed when being left out.

Numbers do not tell the whole story and each cat is different.

This being said let me say that I am and always will be an indoor cat
person. I could no more imaine my 4 legged babies being out wandering
alone then I could my 2 legged babies.

Amen to that,Kraut!
When I had cats years ago...living with my parents, they insisted they go
outside,too. I worried about them until they were safe inside or within my
sight. I had only one outside/inside cat who lived to be 18 years old.
Recently we had a homeless cat who was over 12 years old that went to the
Rainbow Bridge.

The average life of an indoor cat is 17 years. The average life of a
cat that lives outdoors is 2 years. - from the Cats section ofwww.odd-info.com

It's a personal decision -- some people believe the cat is happier
outside, others go for the safe life. I keep mine inside and walk her
outside for about an hour every morning -- recently went off the leash
-- she's very obedient and stays near me from my commands.

Carol Wilson, Cat Artist
http://www.cafepress.com/carolwilsoncats
http://CarolWilsonCatArt.imagekind.com

It's a personal decision -- some people believe the cat is happier
outside, others go for the safe life. I keep mine inside and walk her
outside for about an hour every morning -- recently went off the leash
-- she's very obedient and stays near me from my commands.

That it is - a personal decision!

What I find ineffably sad is the general lack of understanding of the
nature of cats, their evolutionary history and their place in the food
chain.

a) They are top-of-the food-chain hunters.
b) They are obligatory carnivores.
c) They require fresh prey (they are not carrion-eaters).
d) They prefer warm-blooded prey (and their 'mechanics' support this).
e) They are most active (hunt) at dawn and dusk (crepuscular).
f) A normal cat will not kill for sport.
g) A normal cat will have a territory of from a square mile to several
square miles depending on prey density. Female cats will tend to have
a slightly smaller territory than males as males will roam further to
mate. And - many cats will have overlapping territories.
h) For these purposes, we will ignore mating and social behaviors - a
whole 'nother thing.

There are a number of things that go with the above - high 'normal'
body temperature (101 - 102.2F) and rapid heartbeat (140 - 220bpm).
This allows them to have extremely rapid reflexes in order to make
their kill-pounce after whatever stalking they may have done. The only
vegetative matter they will get in the wild will be either in their
preys' stomachs or their occasional browse of fresh grasses and mints
for roughage. A 'normal' cat would not eat corn meal or wheat-gluten
meal on a bet, even if half-starved (more on 'normal' later). Nor
would they eat things they have not killed themselves - however fresh.
They get over that state at about 10 - 12 weeks of age. Their ear-
patches are sensitive to infra-red - this allows them to 'follow'
their prey underground, or in a tree, or in a pile of brush or wood
(or behind a wall). Many times, they detect prey by differentiation of
heat and by movement. And lastly, they have relatively poor detail-
vision and relatively poor close-vision and limited color sense (but
are absolutely not color-blind).

A healthy cat will sleep between 16 and 22 hours per day, if there is
sufficient prey.

Model of a "Normal" cat: Either the European Wild Cat, or the North
African Wild Cat - both capable of interbreeding, both will interbreed
with domestic cats.

So, what do we do with this sort of a creature?

We trap it in what to it is a very, very small cage.
We feed it mostly grains and cold, dead things in general.
We expect it to be at its most active when we are at our most active.
We expect it to be sweet, soft and purr on command.
We deny its nature and natural requirements as a top-of-the-food-chain
predator.
And we expect it to remain a kitten for the entirety of its life.

And, worst of all, we get upset at *IT* when it acts out under these
entirely unnatural, infernally boring, dull, limited conditions.

So, make your choice as to how to keep your cat. But make an
_INFORMED_ choice based on the fact that this creature is far more
than a possession, something to enhance your ego, a decoration. There
are ways to keep cats happy under indoor conditions - but, typically
and sadly, that option requires far more work than most 'owners' are
willing to undertake. There is no way anywhere or any how to let a cat
have access to the outdoors at the same level of safety as if that cat
were confined. But that is also true of children - and people in
general. But if children and people were kept in nice, small, safe
rooms with plenty of food and had all the medical care they required -
well, we call them Prisons - even those in monasteries get out on
occasion. At the same time, often we have no legitimate choice - urban
settings and apartments being examples.

Tough, isn't it?

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Dec 15, 8:37*am, " wrote:

Well stated, and I'm in agreement.

My cat is a inside/outside cat...whatever she wants to do, I let her.
Outside my home, the risks are few, but there are risks, and she
knows most of them.

When she was younger, she would climb trees....
I suppose she could have fallen out of the tree, but she never did.
She doesn't climb trees anymore because she's gotten too old to
do that anymore...but I'm glad she did while she could...it's natural
for them and made her feel like a cat should feel.

A happier, healthier more content cat there never was.
As I write this, she's sitting next to me purring away for no apparent
reason.