Generally speaking, the average cat’s life span is twelve to fifteen years. But in a healthy, safe environment and with proper nutrition and good veterinary care, a cat can live to be twenty years of age or more. The oldest cats on record lived well into their thirties.
As a general rule, outdoor cats don’t fare as well or live as long as cats kept indoors. It’s often a hard-knock life for outdoor kitties – they risk injury from cars, dogs, predators, and even other cats in the neighborhood. They’re also more likely to pick up contagious diseases that are passed along by other felines. So as a general rule, indoor cats often live longer than their free-roaming counterparts.