Scientists say that the Maine Coon lifespan is only 11 years!

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In one way I am a little shocked by the conclusions of this large veterinary clinic study but in another way, I am not knowing the range of inherited genetic diseases suffered by the Maine Coon, particularly the heart disease hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Heart disease is bound to shorten lives on average across the breed. 

Image: MikeB. These are NOT Maine Coons!!

Note: this is a cross-post. I felt the need to do it again with a slightly different emphasis and length.

The video below provides you with Ben's assessment based on a well-known study: Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England dated 2015. Link at base of page.

The video/study does not tell us why the Maine Coon has a lifespan that is shorter than the average moggie estimated to be 14 years.

The issue is why do Maine Coons live relatively short lives compared to many other breeds and non-purebreds. The answer is probably in HCM.

For people they say that most sufferers of HCM have a normal lifespan but a minority have shortened lifespans because of heart failure. I'll speculate and say that the same thing happens for cats and the small minority who die prematurely bring down the average lifespan of the breed.

Astonishingly they say the Bengal cat - another popular cat breed - has an average lifespan of 7.3 years. This is no better than the worst dog breeds (the large ones). It is less than half that of full-time indoor moggies looked after well.

Once again, I'd speculate and say the reason is HCM as the Bengal is another cat breed which sadly is plagued by this disease due to careless selective breeding in my opinion.

HCM in cat breeds can be eliminated if they gave up their focus on appearance and tore up the breed standard by outcrossing and improving genetic diversity. But they won't do that as appearance is the be-all and end-all of the cat breeders objectives.

Link to the study referred to: https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612x14536176

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