A comprehensive UK study conducted in 2019-2021 and published in 2024 concluded that the Sphynx cat breed “had the shortest life expectancy at year 0 among the analysed breeds at 6.68 years. Being entire, purebred and with a non-ideal body weight were significantly linked to a decreased lifespan.”
The word “entire” means unsterilised. The phrase “non-ideal body weight” must be a reference to being obese and there is an obesity epidemic in the UK among domestic cats according to veterinarians. Although these factors are not the usual causes of death of the Sphynx cat. That can be attributed to inherited diseases particularly HCM – see below.
The study looked at 1.25 million domestic cats under veterinary care across six veterinary groups mainly during 2019 as mentioned. They found that female cats live longer than male cats which is unsurprising.
By far the most common “mechanism of death” was euthanasia at 83.7% while 12.4% of the cats had “unassisted deaths”. This means that they probably died at home or in the environs of their home without any intervention.
The Burmese and Birman had the longest life expectancy at age 0 at 14.42 years and 14.39 years respectively.
Non-purebred cats have the widest range of lifespans while Sphynx cats had the narrowest range of lifespans among the breeds analysed.
Sphynx cats had the shortest life expectancy at age 0 among the breeds analysed at 6.68 years. Comment: a remarkably short lifespan and similar, ironically, to the French Bulldog which has a lifespan of around seven years according to another study.
Both the Sphynx and French bulldog are unnatural breeds. Selective breed with no hair thanks to a genetic mutation and a foreshortened snout respectively. The Sphynx is considered the result of torture breeding in Germany and is banned in that EU country.
The scientists stated that “Cats that were euthanised had a longer life expectancy at age 0 at 12.09 years than cats without records of method of death at 10.36 years.”
Although all Sphynx cats are or should be neutered or spayed, the study found that “entire cats had 4.29 times the odds of death before three years compared to neutered cats.”
And “Purebred cats had 1.83 times higher odds of dying before three years than crossbred cats.”
RELATED: Sphynx cat health concerns
Burmese and Birman kittens in their first year of life had a life expectancy of 14.4 years. According to this study, that is longer than crossbred cats (moggies) with a life expectancy of 11.9 years. Of course, there are many factors involved and my initial thoughts are that many crossbred cats are allowed outside while the majority of purebred cats are kept indoors. This obviously impacts lifespan.
The researchers wanted to provide some “level of statistical certainty where previously it was just guesswork” on the matter of lifespan.
The information “can be important for prospective owners, rehoming charities and vets”. The information was gathered between January 2019 and 31 March 2021.
They concluded that in quotes the present study shows that purebred cats lived over 1.5 years less than crossbred cats and suggests that some breeds, such as Sphynx and Bengal had a particularly short life expectancy. Further epidemiological studies on the mortality and morbidity of various cat breeds are warranted.”
It should be noted that you will see other studies reporting Sphynx cats with much longer life spans; sometimes 15 years. That information comes from the insurance provider PetPlan. So there are discrepancies buy this study is a very large one and I would suggest more scientific.
Reasons for short Sphynx lifespan
The study touches on the reasons why the relatively popular, hairless Sphynx has the shortest lifespan. The Bengal cat joins this group, which is somewhat shocking.
RELATED: 5 breeds suffering from HCM.
It’s about inherited heart disease; HCM. Also, the Sphynx like other purebred cats inherits genetic diseases of which HCM is the main killer. The study stated that there is little information “about the mortality of Sphynx cats”. Comment: but there is good information about their inherited diseases.
A study in France found that “Sphynx cats without a previous record of heart disease reported that 16/114 (14.0%) and 23/114 (20.2%) cats had congenital heart diseases and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, respectively”. The difference must be between male and females but this is not stated.
This French study found that about 65% of Sphynx cats aged over four years were diagnosed with at least one heart condition. The Sphynx is also predisposed to “variable progressive hereditary myopathy” meaning skeletal myopathy. And they can suffer from inherited corneal sequestrum and entropion. The breeders in the top most popular cat breeds globally and more research is required on their health and welfare and breeding practices.
These diseases are inherited and it is down to the cat fancy through cat associations to encourage breeders to breed out of their bloodlines these serious inherited diseases.
RELATED: Bengal Cat and Taurine.
The Bengal cat, one of the most popular, also, regrettably, suffers from HCM as does the Maine Coon. All of these breeds have reduced lifespans because of this single disease which can start at the age of four months.
Study details: Teng KT, Brodbelt DC, Church DB, O’Neill DG. Life tables of annual life expectancy and risk factors for mortality in cats in the UK. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 2024;26(5). doi:10.1177/1098612X241234556
