How long do cats live? #HillsPet

This post about cat life expectancy is brought to you by Hill’s. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s Science Diet for Cats, but This Mama Loves only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article. #HillsPet

Our Raistlin was 14 1/2 years old when she passed.  She had a very, very long and full life.  When my husband found her in a dumpster, she was a teeny tiny little fireball of fur and was ready to take on the world.  When I met my husband, she was a few years old and much, much calmer (and larger….).  By the time we had kids, Raistlin was 7 and a full-on mature…when she passed ,she was very much a senior. We’re back at the kitten stage again in our house, but with kids this time around, we have a lot more questions.

With kids come questions.  Some are easy to answer.  What do cats eat?  Do cats use a pillow?  Why don’t we get shoes for the cat?  Can I paint the cat’s nails? Can the cat take a bath with me?

A big question?

How long do cats live?  
Any household with pets and children will have this question come up (and probably 100000 more), because obviously pets have shorter life spans than people.  Given that pets are members of the family, it makes sense that we’d give them different foods for different stages of their lives.  Most of us aren’t going to give a full steak on a bone to a 5 month old, simply because it’s not the best for their dietary needs at that age.  With cats, their dietary needs change as they age, too, by offering them foods that match their stage in life, we are not only helping them to be healthier, but can also help to improve their quality of life, energy levels and possibly risk of chronic illnesses!

I remember with Raistlin, when we started noticing behavior changes or right around when she did enter a new ‘stage’ of her life — not by the calendar, but kind of us noticing she maybe was slowing down, or sleeping more…that’s when we’d start to reevaluate her food and maybe call the vet or head to the store to look at new options.  I’m not sure it was so much that we knew she was in a new phase of life needing different formulas or just instinct, and probably won’t know, but in retrospect, knowing what I know now…within 3-4 months of her hitting 7 years and about 11 years, we changed her foods.  We’ll do the same with the kittens as they get older, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll be looking at Hill’s® Science Diet® healthy aging formulas when the time comes for the kittens.  These formulas help to  MAINTAIN health while aging with Science Diet® Active Longevity™ foods — or to  DEFY the visible signs of aging with Science Diet® Science Diet Senior 11+ Age Defying.

I never stopped to think how lucky my family has been my whole life- most of our dogs- and cats- have lived fairly long lives.  Which leads me to ask… do you have pets?  Or have you had pets? How long did your pets live?