When owning or considering owning a cat the question ‘do black cats live longer?’ may enter your mind.
Studies suggest that black cats may live longer than other domestic cats due to their genetic makeup. The genes that make them black are thought to give them stronger immune systems.
Common Cats
The most common domestic black cats are the American Shorthair and the Bombay Cat.
The American Shorthair has an average lifespan of 15-20 years and the Bombay Cat has an average lifespan of 12-20 years.
The upper end of this average lifespan is pretty high compared to some cat breeds.
Black domestic cats are known to have very little common illnesses and this has been attributed to their immune system and their ability to fight off disease.
Science
A study that was conducted back in 2015 talks of a genetic term called ‘melanism’.
The theory of melanism is that the dark coloration of an animal’s fur and skin isn’t solely inherited but it’s actually a development of melanin to aid the animal in its natural environment.
It is thought that these black genes are passed down in some cases but studies would suggest that survival of the fittest and natural selection may be at play when it comes to black fur and skin.
So are our black kitties going through some sort of evolutionary change?
Studies done by the National Institute of Health have lead them to believe that Jaguars and black domestic cats have higher resilience to illnesses such as FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Disease).
Breeds
According to the CFA (The Cat Fanciers’ Association), there are 22 different breeds of cat that can be solid black.
With that in mind and the fact that there has been so little scientific study, I can only imagine that being able to answer the question ‘do black cats live longer?’ with any accuracy could be quite tricky.
Where do you start? Some breeds may live longer than others generally and how do we measure just how dark a cat’s fur is?
This is going to vary greatly from cat to cat and from breed to breed.
This is why I decided to keep things simple and focus on the American Shorthair and the Bombay Cat due to them being fairly common.
Adoption
Mainly due to superstition and the bad reputation that black cats have, they are the least likely to be adopted from cat shelters.
Unfortunately, a lot of cat shelters put cats to sleep when they have no more room and due to the large percentage of the cats in these shelters being black, the black cat population suffers.
Now I suppose this is more of a roundabout way of addressing the question but if you think about it from this perspective, do black cats live longer?
The adoption rate of black cats is always changing and it’s very pleasing to see that some shelters are reporting that black cat adoption rates are up.
Maybe the stigma attached to black cats is fizzling out over time?
If this is the case then euthanasia of black cats may not need to be considered as much when calculating their lifespan.
My Final Thoughts
So do black cats live longer? It’s a very complicated question to answer and it’s an area that has much exploration needed.
The evolutionary and scientific elements to this question have me intrigued and I will definitely be researching this further.
As I find more info I will add it to the blog.
I’ve had a lot of fun researching this topic and I definitely feel that I understand more about what a black cat actually is.
A black cat isn’t a breed or a variation of a breed but a black cat could quite well be a cat in a suit of armor ready to take on the world…
For more black cat content check out the My Mini Panther Facebook page.
Lee Harris
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