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. 2023 Feb 21:10:1082102.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1082102. eCollection 2023.

Life expectancy tables for dogs and cats derived from clinical data

Mathieu Montoya  1 , Jo Ann Morrison  2 , Florent Arrignon  3 , Nate Spofford  2 , Hélène Charles  1 , Marie-Anne Hours  1 , Vincent Biourge  1
Affiliations

Life expectancy tables for dogs and cats derived from clinical data

Mathieu Montoya et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

There are few recent and methodologically robust life expectancy (LE) tables for dogs or cats. This study aimed to generate LE tables for these species with clinical records from >1,000 Banfield Pet hospitals in the USA. Using Sullivan's method, LE tables were generated across survey years 2013-2019, by survey year, and for subpopulations defined by sex, adult body size group (purebred dogs only: toy, small, medium, large and giant), and median body condition score (BCS) over life. The deceased population for each survey year comprised animals with a recorded date of death in that year; survivors had no death date in that year and were confirmed living by a veterinary visit in a subsequent year. The dataset totaled 13,292,929 unique dogs and 2,390,078 unique cats. LE at birth (LEbirth) was 12.69 years (95% CI: 12.68-12.70) for all dogs, 12.71 years (12.67-12.76) for mixed-breed dogs, 11.18 years (11.16-11.20) for cats, and 11.12 (11.09-11.14) for mixed-breed cats. LEbirth increased with decreasing dog size group and increasing survey year 2013 to 2018 for all dog size groups and cats. Female dogs and cats had significantly higher LEbirth than males: 12.76 years (12.75-12.77) vs. 12.63 years (12.62-12.64), and 11.68 years (11.65-11.71) vs. 10.72 years (10.68-10.75), respectively. Obese dogs (BCS 5/5) had a significantly lower LEbirth [11.71 years (11.66-11.77)] than overweight dogs (BCS 4/5) [13.14 years (13.12-13.16)] and dogs with ideal BCS 3/5 [13.18 years (13.16-13.19)]. The LEbirth of cats with BCS 4/5 [13.67 years (13.62-13.71)] was significantly higher than cats with BCS 5/5 [12.56 years (12.45-12.66)] or BCS 3/5 [12.18 years (12.14-12.21)]. These LE tables provide valuable information for veterinarians and pet owners and a foundation for research hypotheses, as well as being a stepping-stone to disease-associated LE tables.

Keywords: lifespan; longevity; mortality; obesity; survival.

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Conflict of interest statement

MM, HC, M-AH, and VB were employed by Royal Canin. JM and NS were employed by Banfield Pet Hospital. FA was employed by MAD Environnement. Royal Canin SAS and Banfield Pet Hospital are subsidiaries of Mars Inc.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Methodology used to build the study population in each calendar survey year from the clinical dataset.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Total population sizes (deceased and survivor) for life expectancy calculations. Dogs were categorized as purebred dogs in size groups toy, small, medium, large and giant, and as mixed-breed dogs. Cats were categorized as purebred and mixed-breed cats. Population sizes are presented by survey year (A), sex (B), age interval (C), and median body condition score (D). Body condition scoring was on a 5-point scale from 1 = very thin to 5 = obese. BCS, body condition score.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Life expectancies at birth of purebred and mixed-breed dogs and cats by survey year. Dogs were categorized as purebred dogs in size groups toy, small, medium, large and giant, and as mixed-breed dogs. Cats were categorized as purebred and mixed-breed cats. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Life expectancies of purebred and mixed-breed dogs and cats by age interval and survey year. Life expectancies are shown for purebred dog size groups toy (A), small (B), medium (C), large (D) and giant (E), for mixed-breed dogs (F), for purebred cats (G), and for mixed-breed cats (H). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Life expectancies of dogs (A) and cats (B) by age interval and sex. Animal populations were all dogs and all cats regardless of size and breed. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Life expectancies of purebred and mixed-breed dogs and cats by age interval and sex. Life expectancies are shown for purebred dog size groups toy (A), small (B), medium (C), large (D) and giant (E), for mixed-breed dogs (F), for purebred cats (G), and for mixed-breed cats (H). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Life expectancies of dogs (A) and cats (B) by age interval and median life-time body condition score. Animal populations were all dogs and all cats regardless of size, breed and sex. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Body condition scoring was on a 5-point scale from 1 = very thin to 5 = obese. BCS, body condition score.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Life expectancies at birth of dogs (A) and cats (B) by year of survey and median life-time body condition score. Animal populations were all dogs and all cats regardless of size, breed and sex. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Body condition scoring was on a 5-point scale from 1 = very thin to 5 = obese. BCS, body condition score.
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