Ragdoll Cats: How Long Will My Ragdoll Live?
Sep 18th, 2006 by Rob
Many pet owners wonder how long their animals will live. The answer depends on a number of factors: genetics, your cat’s medical history, quality of veterinary care, environment, diet, and their activity level. There have been a number of veterinary advances over the past years that are allowing pets to live longer. A cat that is well cared for and kept inside on a good diet can live a healthy life of at least fifteen years.
Many cats live as long as twenty years and some live as long as thirty years. Genetics play a large role in how long your Ragdoll cat will live. Ragdolls are hearty breed and do not suffer from genetic defects. Some cat breeds that are selectively bred are more prone to illness and live shorter lives as a result.
Keeping your Ragdoll indoors at all times lowers the risk for disease and accidental death. Outdoor cats are at risk for accidental death from traffic, poisoning, or attack by another animal. Outdoor cats are also at risk from parasites and other diseases. Neutering or spaying your Ragdoll is one thing you can do that will improve your cat’s lifespan by reducing the risks for certain types of cancer.
Diet is another factor that affects your cat’s longevity. If overfed, your cat will be at risk for diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, liver disease, and any number of related illnesses. An overweight cat will not live as long as the same cat at a healthy body weight. If you are concerned about your cat’s weight consult your veterinarian about a feeding regiment tailored to maintain a healthy body weight.
The best thing you can do for your Ragdoll cat is to visit your veterinarian on a regular basis for all of the regularly scheduled checkups and vaccinations. Early detection and prevention are the best way to avoid medical conditions that could reduce your Ragdoll’s lifespan.
I think the best thing I did for my cats’ health was switch them to a raw-fed diet. It’s just about the only thing we found other than heavy-duty medications (that have their own problems) to deal with one cat’s asthma and the other’s digestive issues.
My ragdoll is 12 1/2 years old. For the last 9 months he has been leaving stool samples and bloody droppings all around the house. He has dropped from 15 1/2 lbs. to 8 lbs. All vet tests have come back normal ( urine, stool, blood, thyroid, etc.) He has been on Prednisone for a month now and there has been no improvement. He was given that in case he had irritable bowel syndrome. It seems if he had some cancer the blood test would show up an increase in white blood cell counts or something. Any ideas? Thank you.
You would think the blood tests would show something but you never know. That is so sad. I hope you find something to help him.
my ragdoll is 21 he has been pretty skinny like 5 pounds for the last 2 years normally weighing 15-20 but the vet says hes healthy and to let him die naturally . He still jumps on the kitchen counters and bak on the wood floor i dont know how he does it cause he is super old!!
I hope Lynne’s ragdoll (same name as me) fares better than mine. He is only 9 1/2 and also dropped weight. Lots of diarrhea. The vet thought it might be IBD but after a week on meds and two sets of xrays, he felt Claude needed emergency surgery. He had a large tumor in his colon. We’re waiting for the biopsy results, but they told me to be prepared for the worst.
My ragdoll named Monty, only just turned 11 years old and passed away this morning. He had tried to jump up onto a worktop yesterday and fell. He was coughing up blood, and struggling to move. Think he’d had a stroke. I am very upset and when I read someone had a ragdoll aged 21 I wondered why mine had passed away so soon..