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A family decided to adopt a 20-year-old cat, but they certainly never expected him to be full of love and energy.
Family adopts 20-year-old cat: Dexter’s second life
Cats, when adopted, become real members of the family .
This is because, having a life expectancy ranging from 12 to 18 years , they spend a lot of time with us and it becomes impossible to get attached to them. Sometimes it can even happen that there are even more long-lived cats, who can live more than 20 years: this is the case of Dexter, a cat adopted at the ripe old age of 20 years.
Cat adopted at the age of 20
The family in question was faced with a very common choice. A child really wanted a pet to care for and cuddle, so he insisted that his parents buy him a kitten. With some hesitation, mom and dad went to a cattery to satisfy their son’s wish: the intention was to adopt a puppy, but once they arrived at the cattery an “older cat” caught their eye.
This is Dexter, a 20 year old cat, but full of love and energy. The cat, in a matter of seconds, won the hearts of the three members of the family: regardless of his age they decided to adopt him.
A deep friendship
Already the next day, Dexter and the baby became very good friends with a very special bond. The baby takes loving care of his big cat, feeds him, plays with him all day long and cuddles him affectionately.
Dexter, for his part, immediately showed himself to be a very sweet feline, one of the cutest they have ever met. It almost seems that Dexter is showing great appreciation for having been adopted at a very advanced age.
Dexter’s death
However, two years after being adopted, Dexter died (he was 22 years old). His family wanted to describe this extraordinary story of unconditional love in this way: ” Don’t cry because it’s over – smile because it happened!”. Dexter was a very lucky cat: he did not spend his last years in a cage, but in a warm and loving family.
How long do cats live?
Over the past 40 years, the life expectancy of cats seems to have literally doubled . To date, a cat lives an average of 15 years , compared to 12 for a dog. Evidently, pets are the longest-lived and healthiest because they are cared for and scrupulously looked after by their owners. This is a research published in the journal Science.
It seems that experts, intrigued by this circumstance, have begun to study the phenomenon in detail. The study of the organism and the DNA of these animals, in fact, could reveal new elements on which to act ‘ invecc h iamentso of man.
In fact, the same factors that allow humans to live longer can also be applied to pets. Certainly, there is not only the positive side: domestic life, in fact, can expose dogs and cats to risks such as obesity, pollution and disease.
Increasingly long-lived animals
However, it is likely that in the future at this rate, in the space of a thousand years, we could have dogs and cats living up to 300 years. Like the Creme Puff Texan cat, who boasts 38 years. Or the Australian dog Bluey, 29 years old.
There are research groups that are working precisely to extend the life of man’s best friends. In this sense, in the United States there is the Dog Aging Project , of the geneticist Daniel Promislow who works at the University of Washington in Seattle.
It is a project that conducts research on behavior, reproduction, ecology and evolution precisely with the aim of identifying the secret of long life for animals and, consequently, also for humans.
