# Poll: Cats passing due to old age - how old?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 3, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769 "2005-06-03T19:16:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769/21 "2005-06-08T19:31:30Z")

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Thanks for all the great answers, stories and pictures.  
Seems my Jesper is still a milk-mouth in comparison to how old they can live. 🙂

**Alias** , I just read your kitty’s page and wow. Good on you for rescuing the poor thing.  
Taped shut? :mad: Jackasses.

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**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769/22 "2005-06-08T19:37:54Z")

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Tina lived to be 19 1/2 years old. She had no major problems until less than a month before the end. For the first 9 years of her life, she was an inside/outside cat, then made the transition to strictly inside cat. I think tormenting my wife’s Yorkie helped keep her young.

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**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769/23 "2005-06-08T21:22:53Z")

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Hmmm. Well, to contribute something on the low end of the scale, my sister had a male “Socks” cat (inside/outside) who lived only about 10 years. Poor guy just died in his sleep without any warning one weekend afternoon. She also had a calico who got cancer and died around age 8 a few months prior to that.

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**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769/24 "2005-06-08T21:29:09Z")

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We have several teenaged cats who are hale and hearty. Our oldest living critter is [Elvis Pussley](http://mortalwombat.com/ElvisPussley/MixedBreed.jpg), who is 20 years old. He has an inoperable malignant tumor, and he’s a bit slow and skinny, but he enjoys his life, and he is a blessing to our household.

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**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-cats-passing-due-to-old-age-how-old/306769/25 "2005-06-09T01:36:27Z")

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The oldest I had one live was 17, I had a few that died between 10 and 12 due to various diseases. My oldest cat right now is 15 and he seems to be plugging along okay. _knocks on wood_

I’ve seen cats from 18 to 22 come into the clinic.

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