For LONGEVITY adopt a perfect weight crossbred, spayed female cat

I have been writing about cat longevity quite a lot recently. And I am writing this without reference to any notes; just from what I have read recently and remember. It'll be quite short! 😢😊 I read several studies about domestic cat life expectancy and longevity. Some of the data available is a little unbelievable or uncertain because, in one study, they referred to rescue cats from shelters and I suspect that on occasions they had to estimate the age of the cats. See: Data on lifespan of over 11 million cats and dogs (Banfield Hospitals USA).

But the studies I've read were based upon a very large number of cats and the information came from veterinary clinics and animal hospitals where the cats had died. These clinics had treated the cats beforehand and therefore they had a complete record.

Females live longer on average. Click on the image to see the original and to download it if you want to.

One consistent item of information running through the mass of data on domestic cat longevity is the fact that female cats live longer than male cats and that would apply to purebred cats and crossbred cats. However, it would apply less to purebred cats because these cats are normally kept indoors full-time whereas crossbreed (random-bred or moggy) cats are normally allowed outside in many countries where they are liable to have accidents and be injured or killed. This distorts data on life expectancy of crossbreed cats.

And it is one reason why, I suspect that male cats have shorter life expectancy than females. Another would be health issues perhaps predominantly concerning urinary tract diseases. Males are more adventurous than females and they patrol large home ranges. Young males are particularly vulnerable to accidents (RTAs primarily). This advice applies to females with a well-maintained, ideal weight and who is spayed (sterilized).

In a particularly good study on this topic, the researchers found that female cats tended to live to 12.5 years on average compared to males who made it to 11.2 years of age; more than the year extra for the females.

See my report on this study concerned males and females: Female domestic cats live longer than male domestic cats (big 2019 UK study).

You will notice that the average age of a male cat is 11.2 years. I've always thought that domestic cats in general live to about 14 or 15 years of age. The studies have forced me to adjust my expectation on cat age downwards.

Crossbred cats tended to live longer than purebreds with lifespans of 11.9 years and 10.4 years respectively. Once again the lifespans are shorter than I expected. I expected better but perhaps my expectations concern a well-looked after domestic cat in a nice home in which the caregiver is concerned about the health and welfare of their companion animal.

There are millions of domestic cats in less than good homes in both the UK and USA and other countries where their caregiving is less than optimal and where some end up in rescue centres and have lives which are far from ideal. All of these factors bear down on longevity sometime substantially.

But if longevity is an important factor to you and it should be as it reflects health then consider the words in the title to this article. 👍💕😊

And if you would like to read some more about domestic cat longevity there are a couple of links below which might interest you. One is about purebred cats and the Birman and Burmese being the longest-lived purebred cats. In fact, these two cat breeds live longer on average than non-purebred cats or crossbred cats according to this study which I have cited below together with a link so you can read a bit more about the topic if you wish.

• Sphynx cat breed has the shortest life expectancy of 6.68 years - the cause? HCM (heart disease)
• Burmese and Birman cats have the longest life expectancy of purebred cats (2024) - the reason? Less serious inherited genetic diseases.

P.S. In a study "Mortality of Life-Insured Swedish Cats during 1999–2006: Age, Breed, Sex, and Diagnosis" there was no difference in mortality rates between male and female. The study mainly concerned purebred cats. "Sex-specific rates did not differ significantly".

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

How long do I need to keep my female cat crated post desexing?

The recommendation should come direct from your veterinarian actually but typically, it is recommended to keep a female cat crated in a small and quiet room for about 24-48 hours following the spaying operation. 

The idea is to keep the cat's activities limited for a few days to promote healing and to minimize the risk of complications. Although the duration for this will vary depending upon several factors including the cat's health and behaviour.

The environment should be comfortable and stress-free and that inside the crate or room there should soft bedding, access to water and the litter box and of course food. The litter box should be distanced from the food and water. The place should be quiet with limited interactions between the spayed female and other animals or children. She needs rest and quiet to recover. It's quite a big operation.

When the confinement period is over her activity levels can gradually be allowed to increase but once again it would be wise to seek your veterinarian's recommendations.

The general advice, on my research, is that vigorous activity and jumping et cetera should be limited including access to the outdoor environments until the incision has fully healed which should take around 10-14 days.

If you have any concerns about the recovery, you will no doubt contact your veterinarian for advice.

How to minimise your cat wandering too far from the cat-flap

Wandering cat. Image: SVEN HERSELMAN.

I can think of two ways to minimise the distance that your domestic cat companion travels away from your home if they are indoor/outdoor cats. These are my tips:

1. Feed your cat well with high quality wet cat food and some dry cat food for grazing at night. It has been found and indeed suggested by a very well-known cat behaviourist, Dr. Jon Bradshaw, that when domestic cats are fed well and regularly, they have less inclination to patrol over large areas. Domestic cat will inherently patrol their territory if they are allowed outside because this is instinctive wild cat behaviour. But when well fed it dampens that desire. It shrinks their home range because one reason for having a home range is to have a territory within which they can hunt. The hunting desire is somewhat dampened when well fed although not eliminated because the desire to hunt is not directly linked to feeling hungry. This is also inherited from the wildcat ancestor.
2. Secondly, among the wild cat species of all kinds, you will find that the female's home range is considerably smaller than the male's. In fact, for the tiger, female home ranges are often encompassed by a single male home range. It's a kind of male harem. But the point is this: adopting a female cat should mean that they travel less distance from the cat flap.

RELATED: The misogynistic world of tiger property rights!

The above two points have, clearly, distinct advantages to the cat caregiver such as:

• Less desire to hunt native species which should please conservationists and indeed the owner.
• Less desire to roam widely. They might roam no more than 50 yards from the cat flap or even stay within the back yard.
• Improved relationships with neighbours potentially because there will be less desire to roam onto neighbours' backyards or back gardens.
• Less risk of injury through wandering onto roads and being hit by vehicles.
• Less risk of injury generally as there is less opportunity to encounter hazards.
• Less risk of being lost.

Stunning-looking calico cat but is she real?

 Here she is but is she real? We'll never know. The problem is that there are some very talented photo-editors around nowadays. Although I sense that in this instance the cat is real except that the eyes have been 'doctored' to look more interesting than they really are. I mean the colours are stunning. You just don't get odd-eyes that colour normally. 

As you no doubt know, we do see odd-eye colour in domestic cats with one of the eyes being gold or yellow and the other blue (no melanin pigmentation) but I have a feeling that the colour of these eyes have been enhanced through photo shopping. I don't know. I am forced to guess which is a weakness with current photography.

Almost all the great photographs you see nowadays are photoshopped either subtly or quite extensively. Photography is more like painting nowadays than recording what is in front of the lens. There's nothing inherently wrong with it unless you want to know what the reality is.

Stunning-looking cat but is she real? She is a calico and therefore female.

We also see quite a lot of cats on the Internet with "split-face" colouration. In this instance it would be due to the white-spotting gene or another name for this gene is the piebald gene. This causes a lack of pigmentation in certain areas of the fur and sometimes it's effect produces a sharp line down the middle of the face.

We can tell that this is a calico cat because there is white fur (fur without pigmentation), red or ginger fur and black fur (tricolour). The calico cat is a tortoiseshell-and-white cat. The phrase "calico cat" comes from America. Some people don't like it! They prefer the original description.

And as you also no doubt know, nearly all calico cats are female because that is the way the genetics work. The genes are sex-linked. And in the rare cases that there are male calico cats they are feminised males, somewhere between male and female without being hermaphrodites. They are sterile and they don't show any real interest in meeting with females (asexual).

My cat is acting weird. She’s standing on her rear toes with her butt in the air. What does it mean?

The exact words of the cat's owner asking for help on Reddit.com are as follows:

My cat has been acting weird. All day she’s been standing on her rear toes with her butt in the air always pointing it at me. She’s never done this before what does it mean?

I shortened them for the title. The picture accompanying the words immediately tell us what is going on.

My cat is acting weird. She’s standing on her rear toes with her butt in the air. What does it mean?. Female (queen) in heat prepared to mate. Image: u/OMGJay on Reddit.

Their female cat is in oestrus (heat) and is seeking a mate and ready to copulate. She raises her bottom slightly and places her tail to one side. The classic pose of a female cat waiting to be mated. Before doing this, she would have provided other signals to males to indicate that she was ready to mate such as rolling around flirtatiously.

Clearly, the owner has adopted this cat and unusually not had her spayed (sterilised). He/she may have rescued her informally (found her). The vast majority of people in the West i.e. Europe and America, spay and neuter their female and male cats. 

If there is a lesson here it is to check if an informally adopted female cat has been spayed. It can hard to find the scare from the operation. You might like to ask a vet.

The veterinarians say that female cats are happier when they been spayed and it helps to remove the possibility of certain diseases affecting female cats. So, it is highly recommended.

The spraying operation is more severe than the neutering operation for male cats but I argue that male cats' appearance changes when they are neutered. They become more feminised whereas for female cats there is no change in appearance. I prefer the non-neutered male cat appearance.

In the spraying surgery, the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries are removed. The operation prevents the queen (unsterilized female cat) from coming into oestrus and eliminates the problems of cystic ovaries, neutering infections, false pregnancies, irregular heat cycles and confinement during the mating season. 

And it also reduces the frequency of breast tumours. Spaying reduces the chances of a female cat developing mammary tumours by 90%.

Spaying does not make a cat fat and lazy. It might slow their metabolism and this can be countered by a fresh diet and some more exercise.

The best time to spay a female is at 5-7 months of age before she goes into her first heat.

Veterinarians believe that a spayed female makes an outstanding pet and she is able to devote herself exclusively to her human family. 

Plus, you don't have the risk of acquiring a bunch of kittens to care for and find homes for.

Good video of a female domestic cat in heat adopting lordosis position

Lordosis behaviour is described sensitively and respectfully 😎 by the Wikipedia authors as "the naturally occurring body posture for sexual receptivity to copulation". You can see the female raising her backside and placing her tail to one side to allow the male access for copulation.

Note about the video above. I would expect this to stop working but what will be left is a link to the Reddit.com website where you can see the video. Or it might just stop working! Sorry if that has happened but I don't control the video.

The Wikipedia authors are far more technical about the description. They say that "during lordosis, the spine curves dorsoventrally so that its apex points towards the abdomen"!

Lordosis behaviour happens when the queen (unsterilised female) is in heat otherwise known as oestrus which is spelt "estrus" in America.

It is also known as mammalian lordosis indicating that it is seen in different mammals such as hamsters, elephants and eastern grey squirrels.

It is a reflex action which is crucial to reproductive behaviour. The "lordosis reflex arc" is hardwired into the spinal cord at the level of the lumbar and sacral vertebrae. The action is moderated by the brain.

The female cries out for attention and this vocalisation is called caterwauling. My mind turns to cat breeders in keeping stud cats away from queens. And I can remember a complaint by a neighbour because the breeder's facilities were in a neighbourhood, an urban environment.

The complaint was about the noise from the breathing cats. As I recall they were Bengal cats.

The female is ready for copulation and fertilisation under the action of oestrogen in the hypothalamus resulting in an uninhibited lordosis reflex. Dramatic words.

Cruder words would be that female cats positions themselves in a way which makes it easier for male cats to have sex with them. Breeding cats are very good at procreation. Theoretically, and I stress theoretically, a single pair of breeding domestic cats could produce 65,536 cats in five years!

This assumes that all survive, and that males and females are born in equal numbers and that they all start breeding when they are a year old. Reality is different.

2 cats became 84 in 2 years (in 1 room). Image: Image: Feline Solutions Inc.

However, we do see some pretty sad pictures of goodwilled but misdirected cat hoarders allowing their cats to breed rapidly such as the 84-year-old lady living in one room with almost a hundred cats. All she had to do was sterilise the cats. She started with two, unfortunately a male and a female!

Picture of a calico American Curl with a blaze down the nose

The cat's name is Shiva. She is a calico cat; tortoiseshell-and-white, with a line down her nose demarking two colours (a blaze). She is also an American Curl. You can see the white on the cat's chest. The term "calico" is an Americanism. Like tortoiseshell cats the colour form is sex-linked and they are nearly always female. Males do sometimes occur but they are extremely rare. In 1989, at least one commentator said that calico cats should have a certain minimum amount of white fur: white feet, legs, underside chest and muzzle. This person thought that "once a cat has more than half of its body total in white, then it is a calico". On that basis this cat can either be a tortoiseshell cat or a calico cat. I think that is over complicating it and perhaps the best thing to do is to describe this cat as a tortoiseshell-and-white!

Picture of a calico American Curl with a blaze down the nose. Photo: Pinterest.

There are a number of variant forms which had been developed over the years such as dilute calico which is white with unbridled blue and cream and a fawn-cream calico. There are others. The calico cat is not a cat breed but a colour type.

The American curl is a breed which appeared in 1981 in Lakewood California. A couple, John and Grace Ruga found 2 stray kittens on their doorstep. One of the cats had strangely shaped ears and they kept her. She gave birth to a litter of four kittens, two of which showed the same curled ears as their mother and they decided to use these cats as the foundation stock of a new breed.

Like a lot of other cat breeds the American Curl started with a spontaneous genetic mutation in the random bred cat population and which happened to be noticed by somebody leading to a cat breed through selective breeding.

You can read more about the American curl and the tortoiseshell coat by clicking on the links in this sentence.

Picture of a calico cat with an unusual blaze

This is an interesting looking cat to say the least. The word 'blaze' in the title refers to the sharp line down the nose demarking the boundary between the dark fur and lighter fur. I never know how to spell this strange word. I sometimes spell it 'blaise' but that's wrong apparently. I have no idea where the word comes from.

Picture of a calico cat with a memorable blaze. Photo: Imgur

Tortoiseshells and tortoiseshell-and-white cats can have it to varying degrees of impact. Sometimes it is broken and sometimes it is stark and high contrast. The reason for its existence must be genetic and the migration of melanin (dark pigment) within the hair strands as the unborn kitten develops in the womb. 'Calico' is an Americanism for tortoiseshell-and-white.

This cat has a particularly impressive face. Full of impact, not solely because of the blaze but the gold-dusted eyes and the rest of the pattern and colours which are outstanding.

Almost all calicos are female because the cat's gender is linked to the coat type. This cat is clearly female judging by her face.

SEE A PAGE ON CALICO CATS