I mean, your cat will be old and feeble with slipping joints when you're just barely learning what an actually sore back means, so it's a bit of a trade off.
Nah, not really related. More of a consolation, a self-soothing thought. Flexible people don't live longer or shorter unless they're so flexible from health reasons that might come with other complications. Cats just have a shorter lifespan so they hit old age problems faster.
My cat is only five and she’s been pretty medically precarious since 2y.o. unfortunately. Cherish the time you have, I don’t think my cat will make it to 17. In fact, I would be shocked and thrilled if she made it to 12
My cat is 18 and just in the last few months has suddenly become ancient - fur badly matted, has trouble jumping up on my 1' high bed etc. She has always looked and acted like an 8-month-old kitten up to this point, very sad thing.
True dat! When I was a kid, I would easily climb any tree I could get my hands on. Now that I have kids of my own, I've tried to climb trees again but it simply doesn't work anymore.
I see a 70 year old Japanese lady at my training hike location who runs circles around me. If you can't jog half a mile then that's not a youth issue, it's a "desperately need to do some exercise" issue.