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Scientists Working To Extend Lifespan of Pets (sciencemag.org)

sciencehabit writes: Scientists have explored the mysteries of aging in humans for hundreds of years, but now they're beginning to turn their attention to our pets. Why do cats live longer than dogs? Why do small dogs live longer than big ones? The answers could help us prolong the lifespans of our favorite companion animals, as well as shed light on the mysteries of aging in humans.

"The same things that allow us to live longer also apply to our pets," says João Pedro de Magalhães, a biogerontologist at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom who maintains AnAge, the world's largest database of animal life spans. "I don't think there's a set max. longevity for any species," he says. "The real question is, 'How far can we go?' Maybe a thousand years from now you could have a dog that lives 300 years."

4 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. Why do cats live longer than dogs? That's easy by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Informative

    Every dog person knows it's because cats steal the souls of their owners. I kid! I kid!

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    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    1. Re:Why do cats live longer than dogs? That's easy by bugs2squash · · Score: 5, Funny

      It will be a blessed relief to get into a flame war between dog people and cat people, I'm fed up typing in the same old rants about guns and religions every month.

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      Nullius in verba
  2. Death Serves a Purpose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When pets die it is like a practice run for the children in the family to learn to cope with death. If a child has been through the process of grieving for a pet they will have that experience to help them get through the much more traumatic effects of the death of human family member.

  3. If you want your dogs to live longer by chispito · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Stop selectively breeding them. Look at bulldogs. They've basically been bred to have the most pronounced defects possible, and suffer comparatively short lives as a consequence.

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    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!