An Interesting Fact About Indoor 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

On Sep 22, 9:51 pm, javawizard wrote:
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

That "fact' is often ballyhooed around but it is a myth.

From http://feralcatproject.org/aboutthecats_myths.aspx:

Do feral cats live short lives?
The lifespan of a feral cat is often stated as only 2-3 years. Not in
our experience. Many caretakers know of free-roaming cats that reach
12 to 15 years of age. Long-term studies are underway to determine
longevity. Preliminary data reveal that tom cats live the shortest,
but neutering them increases their lifespan to that of a spayed female
cat. Not all colony cats live to a ripe old age, but many live far
longer than the urban myth projects.

From Alley Cat Allies, http://www.alleycat.org/visitor.html#5
"Feral cats have about the same lifespan as pet cats. "

-yngver

"yngver" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 22, 9:51 pm, javawizard wrote:
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

That "fact' is often ballyhooed around but it is a myth.

From http://feralcatproject.org/aboutthecats_myths.aspx:

Do feral cats live short lives?
The lifespan of a feral cat is often stated as only 2-3 years. Not in
our experience. Many caretakers know of free-roaming cats that reach
12 to 15 years of age. Long-term studies are underway to determine
longevity. Preliminary data reveal that tom cats live the shortest,
but neutering them increases their lifespan to that of a spayed female
cat. Not all colony cats live to a ripe old age, but many live far
longer than the urban myth projects.

From Alley Cat Allies, http://www.alleycat.org/visitor.html#5
"Feral cats have about the same lifespan as pet cats. "


I don't know, but what a great argument for encouraging people to leave
their cats out where they can be harmed.

On Sep 26, 4:45 pm, "cybercat" wrote:
"yngver" wrote in message

oups.com...



On Sep 22, 9:51 pm, javawizard wrote:
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

That "fact' is often ballyhooed around but it is a myth.

Fromhttp://feralcatproject.org/aboutthecats_myths.aspx:

Do feral cats live short lives?
The lifespan of a feral cat is often stated as only 2-3 years. Not in
our experience. Many caretakers know of free-roaming cats that reach
12 to 15 years of age. Long-term studies are underway to determine
longevity. Preliminary data reveal that tom cats live the shortest,
but neutering them increases their lifespan to that of a spayed female
cat. Not all colony cats live to a ripe old age, but many live far
longer than the urban myth projects.

From Alley Cat Allies,http://www.alleycat.org/visitor.html#5
"Feral cats have about the same lifespan as pet cats. "

I don't know, but what a great argument for encouraging people to leave
their cats out where they can be harmed.

I suppose that is the point--most of the people presenting these
"facts" have an agenda.

The indoor/outdoor argument is longstanding and there are pros and
cons to each side, as well as fallacies.

http://www.harpsie.com/indoor_outdoor_cats.htm

-yngver

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