When you look at the current research on spaying and neutering, the AGE at which it's done turns out to be vitally important to your dog's future health. For example, your female dog should NOT be spayed at 6 months old.
Life Expectancy of Dogs and Cats. We hope our pets will be a part of our lives for many, many years but the fact is that the average life expectancy is 10-12 years for dogs and 10-14 years for cats. Older pets have very specific needs and are particularly susceptible in later years to cancer, arthritis, and dental disease.
The general consensus is that at about age seven a cat can be considered middle-aged, and at age 10 and beyond - old. It was once generally thought that one year in the life of the cat was equivalent to seven years of a human life. A new scale of equivalents is now recognized: after the first two years, the cat's life proceeds more slowly in relation to human life and each feline year is approximately four human years. Use the chart below to determine your cat's age in relation to a human's.