Während Hauskatzen normalerweise bis zu 18 Jahre alt werden, beträgt die durchschnittliche Lebenserwartung der haarlosen Sphynx-Rasse laut einer neuen Studie nur 6,8 Jahre und ist damit die niedrigste aller Hauskatzenrassen

Sphynx cats are a hairless breed that originated in Ontario, Canada, where a hairless male kitten named Prune was born in 1966, according to the Sphynx Cat Association.

Their average life expectancy, found to be 6.8 years, could be due to “several breed-predisposed diseases,” researchers from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in the United Kingdom and the National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) in Taiwan [wrote in a study](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/08/world/cat-life-expectancy-study-scli-intl-scn/index.html) published Wednesday in the [Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X241234556).

Their hairlessness, which is caused by a recessive gene, means they are better for those with a sensitivity to cat hair. However, they are not completely hypoallergenic because they still produce skin cells.

In contrast, Burmese and Birman breeds were found to have the longest life expectancy, at 14.4 years, followed by crossbreed cats at 11.9 years and Siamese on 11.7 years.

The team studied the clinical data of 7,936 cats that were registered with vets in the UK and died between January 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021.