Life Expectancy of Pets

When getting a pet, you probably don’t want to accidentally sign up for a twenty-year commitment with an impulse adoption. That’s a bad deal for you and the animal. Consider how long potential companions will be around.

Like people, individual life spans can vary based on environment and health, but you can at least get an idea.

Life Expectancy Ranges for Selected House Pets

A pet mouse lives 2 to 3 years, whereas a horse lives 25 to 30 years.

Lifespan of house pets  

The average life spans above are generalized. There is also variation within species. For example, some studies estimate bulldogs live for six years while labradors live for 10 to 12 years.

Research published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science studied dog life expectancy by size.

Dog Life Expectancy, Given Age

Overall, dogs usually live between 10 and 13 years, but it varies by size.

life expectancy of dogs  

The same study looked at purebred and mixed-breed cats. I wish they looked at indoor versus indoor cats, because that seems to be where the biggest different is.

Cat Life Expectancy, Given Age

Purebred is a little bit higher at birth. Otherwise, life expectancies for purebred and mixed-breed cats look similar.

life expectancy of cats  

So if you’re not sure about the time commitment, maybe go with a mouse. For long-term, go with a cockatiel, or, if you’re in the right type of area, a horse.

Become a member. Support an independent site. Make great charts.

See What You Get

Favorites

Peak Non-Creepy Dating Pool

Based on the “half-your-age-plus-seven” rule, the range of people you can date expands with age. Combine that with population counts and demographics, and you can find when your non-creepy dating pool peaks.

Reviving the Statistical Atlas of the United States with New Data

Due to budget cuts, there is no plan for an updated atlas. So I recreated the original 1870 Atlas using today’s publicly available data.

How You Will Die

So far we’ve seen when you will die and how other people tend to die. Now let’s put the two together to see how and when you will die, given your sex, race, and age.

Pizza Place Geography

Most of the major pizza chains are within a 5-mile …