How to use it
Choose an animal from the first list. For a dog or a cat you can pick a breed instead: all 155 dog breeds in the dog study, or one of the three cat breeds the cat study names. The answer shows the figure, what it means, and a link to the study. Nothing you choose is stored.
A typical figure is not a promise either way. Plenty of animals live well past it, and some don't reach it. It is a guide to what is usual, not a forecast for one pet.
Every figure at a glance
| Animal | Typical figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Dogs, all | 12.5 years | Median survival |
| Small dog breeds | 12.7 years | Median survival |
| Medium dog breeds | 12.5 years | Median survival |
| Large dog breeds | 11.9 years | Median survival |
| Crossbreed dogs | 12.0 years | Median survival |
| Cats | 11.74 years | Life expectancy at birth |
| Rabbits | 4.3 years | Median age at death |
| Guinea pigs | 4.03 years | Median age at death |
| Hamsters | 1.75 years | Median age at death |
What the figures mean
The studies measure slightly different things, so the tool says which one you are looking at. For dogs it is the median survival: the age by which half the dogs had died. For cats it is the life expectancy of a newborn kitten, worked out from the ages at which cats in the study died.
For rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters it is the median age of the animals that died during the study, taken from vet records. That is a lower number than many owners expect, because animals that die young are in it too. The ranges show it: the oldest rabbit in its study was 14.4, the oldest guinea pig 10, and the oldest hamster 3.65.
Breeds
The dog study gives a figure for 155 breeds in its Supplementary Table S3, and the tool lists every one, from the Lancashire Heeler at 15.4 years to the Caucasian Shepherd Dog at 5.4. It also says how many dogs of that breed died during the study. For a few breeds that is only a couple of dozen, so their figure is rough. Flat-faced breeds such as the Bulldog and French Bulldog, both 9.8, were among those most at risk of dying young. The cat study names the Burmese (14.42) and Birman (14.39) as the longest-lived breeds it looked at, and the Sphynx (6.68) as the shortest.
Sources
- Dogs: McMillan and others, "Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death", Scientific Reports, 2024. 584,734 dogs in the UK.
- Cats: Teng and others, "Life tables of annual life expectancy and risk factors for mortality in cats in the UK", Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2024.
- Rabbits: O'Neill and others, "Morbidity and mortality of domestic rabbits under primary veterinary care in England", Veterinary Record, 2020.
- Guinea pigs: O'Neill and others, guinea pigs under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2019, PLOS ONE, 2024.
- Hamsters: O'Neill and others, pet hamsters under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2016, Journal of Small Animal Practice, 2022.
All read on 30 October 2026. Want to know how old your pet is in human terms? Try our dog years calculator, which works for cats and small pets too.