What Do Kittens’ Eyes Look Like As They Grow
When kittens are born, they are blind and their eyes are shut. After about a week or so, they open their eyes. At ten days, the eyes should be fully open.
Eye color is another indicator of a kitten’s age. All kittens are born with blue eyes. The color gradually changes as they grow and at as early as seven weeks , the color begins to change. Some breeds take longer for eye color to become permanent and sometimes, its just hard to tell the colorkittens dont hold still long enough to get a good look!
Read more about your cat’s eyes here.
Nutritional Requirements And Lifestyle Factors
As your kitten transitions into adulthood, it is important to keep up with her changing needs. In addition to her slower growth rate, her nutritional requirements depend on certain lifestyle factors. Among others, these may include decreased physical activity depending on whether your cat has access to the outdoors or not, whether she is neutered, and if she rules the roost or has to share her home with another cat or dog, which tends to keep her more stimulated than if she is on her own. For instance, as one might expect, a young adult cat with access to the outdoors and who sometimes plays with another household pet is likely to have higher calorie requirements than that of a lone indoor cat with a more sedentary lifestyle.
How Do I Calculate My Cats Age In Human Years
So, if youre asking How old is my cat in human years? the calculation is fairly simple. Compared to dogs, which have greater variation based on size and breed, the method to calculate a cats age is pretty standard.
According to the American Animal Hospital Association , these age guidelines have been created and agreed upon by the AAHA, the Feline Advisory Bureau , and the American Association of Feline Practitioners :
- The first year of a cats life is equal to approximately 15 human years.
- The second year of a cats life is equal to an additional nine years.
- After the second year of a cats life, each additional year is equal to about four human years.
So, how old is your cat in human years? You can use our cat age to human years chart below to find out!
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Nine Weeks To Six Months
Teeth: Once your kitten is between three and four months old, adult teeth will start to push out the baby teeth. By the time hes six to seven months old, all of his adult teeth should be in place.
Weight: Until hes five months old, most kittens gain one pound every month. Therefore, a four-pound kitten is probably four months old. Until they are 12 months old, kittens eat solid food designed for their growing needs.
If You Arent Sure How Old Your Cat Is There Are A Few Easy Ways To Find Out
You might not know your cats age, especially if you adopted your feline friend from a shelter. However, this information is extremely beneficial as it enables you to provide them with the care they need as they progress through life. For instance, your vet will be on the lookout for certain conditions that typically emerge at particular ages, and youll also know when its time to switch your cat from kitten food to adult cat food.
If youre wondering how old your cat is, the following tips can help you determine their approximate age.
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One Step At A Time: Keeping Up With Your Kittens Changing Needs
From weaning to old age, your little feline friend will experience a number of physical and behavioural changes that will prompt, amongst other adjustments, a change in her nutritional requirements. One of the most important transitions in your cats life is from being an adorable, bouncy kitten to an equally lovable adult cat. Another important transition in many cats lives comes with neutering, which calls for certain additional adjustments in diet including a possible reduction in calories. And with all transitions, it will be easier for both you and your cat if you understand the changes that lie ahead. Preparation brings you greater peace of mind and will help you make sure that your beloved companion stays healthy and fit at every stage of life.
Two Ways To Look At Age
Though the common perspective on cat years and human years is trying to figure out how old our cats are in human years, that conversion can be applied both ways.
That is to say, if you consider the maximum age of a human to be 100 years, then, based on the Cat Calculator, the maximum age of a cat is 20.8 years. On the other side of the coin, if you consider that, as The Cat Bible suggests, 16 human years is comparable to 84 cat years, then a 100-year-old human could be said to be the equivalent of 525 cat years.
Though this is a generally less practical way to consider the relative aging rate, it does serve as an important reminder The way we experience time, the length of our human years, and the meaning we assign to certain-numbered years , is a matter of perspective. Some other oft-quoted ideas come to mind: “Its not the years in your life, but the life in your years” and “Youre only as old as you feel.”
How old is your cat according to the cat years to human years formula? Or perhaps we should ask, how old are YOU in cat years?
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When To Spay Or Neuter Your Cat
There is debate among veterinarians about the time to spay/neuter your cat, says Dr. Adam Denish of Rhawnhurst Animal Hospital in Elkins Park, PA. There are three general options: Early or pediatric spay/neuter is done at six to eight weeks of age. Standard spay and neuter at five to six months. Finally, waiting until after the first heat, somewhere between eight to twelve months of age, he says.
As a vet who has done thousands of spays and neuters, I still perform them at five months of age. The pets are a good size, the owners have already trained and accepted them, and the anesthesia and surgery are usually safe, says Dr. Denish. The concerns over early spay/neuter are mostly due to the prevailing opinion that new owners may not do the procedure, and the pet is free to breed. The additional offspring contributes to the overpopulation of cats in the wild, as well as the burden of euthanizing unwanted and ill cats at shelters.
Whatever the age of your cat when theyre spayed or neutered, there are definite health benefits for cats of either sex to have the procedure.
How To Determine Your Cat’s Age
Sarah Scott is a fact checker with more than 16 years of experience in researching, writing, and editing digital and print media. She has verified and edited articles on a variety of subjects for The Spruce Pets, including pet behavior, health, and care as well as the latest trends in products for animals in the home.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Your cat’s age may be a mystery to you if your new feline was adopted or rescued. The best way to determine a cat’s age is to consult a trusted veterinarian, who can also help you develop a care program to ensure the optimal quality of life and longevity.
A thorough veterinary examination of the cat’s entire body will generally help to determine an approximate age of the cat however, vets tend to look at a few body parts in particular when trying to estimate how old the cat might be. Here are a few ways vets can determine the age of your cat.
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Benefits Of Spaying Or Neutering Your Cat
According to Dr. Jennifer Coates, veterinary advisor with petMD, spaying a female cat before her first heat cycle virtually eliminates the risk of mammary cancer. She says that this condition is especially serious in cats since feline mammary cancers tend to be very aggressive in comparison to other species.
Spayed female cats also cannot develop ovarian and uterine cancers or a potentially fatal uterine infection called a pyometra, Coates adds. Other health-related issues related to spaying include negating the possibility of the complications that can occur with pregnancy and birthing.
For male cats, Coates says that the benefits of neutering are primarily behavioral, although the procedure does eliminate the possibility that a cat will develop testicular cancer as he ages.
Anyone who as ever tried living with an intact male cat will tell you that the vocalizations, escape attempts, roaming, fighting and urine spraying associated with normal tom cat behavior can get old really quick, she says.
Feline AIDS and leukemia can both be spread between cats through bites, often spurred on by sexual competition, says Coates. So, reducing the urge to mate also reduces the likelihood that your cat will contract one of these oftentimes fatal infections.
Lets Talk About Cat Teeth:
At 8 weeks of age, your kitten will have all their baby teeth: Incisors, Canines and Molars. At 3.5 to 4 months of age, the permanent adult teeth will start coming in over the baby teeth. By 6 months, your cat will have all of their shiny white adult teeth. Teeth may start to dull around the 2 year mark. Between the ages of 3 and 5 years, the teeth may start building up a little tartar around the gum line and tooth wear may be visible.
One important part of maintaining your cats health as they get older is brushing their teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. You might also want to try giving your kitty yummy dental treats. These help fight gum disease which can cause serious health problems, like infection, down the line.
Most kittens will reach their full size at one year of age. Certain breeds of cats like the Maine Coon can continue to fill out up to the age of 4. If your cat still has that teenager look, he is most likely under the age of one.
As a cat ages, he or she may develop a paunch that hangs down. This cat developed her paunch around 2 years old. As cats age, changes in their muscle tone and fur occur. A cat is considered a senior between 8 and 10 years of age.
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Additional Kitten Care Information
Note: This article is the second in a four-part series on caring for baby kittens who are abandoned. Read more about orphaned kittens in part 3. Or start at the beginning of the series of articles.
For more on feeding orphaned kittens, view this Best Friends resource.
Become a foster parent to help care for orphaned kittens in your area.
How To Determine A Kittens Age
If youve helped rescue a few kittens or found a stray litter that you want to support, its a good idea to find out how old the kittens are. This can help you work out what specific care they need.
Its worth noting that stray kittens should never be separated from their mother or removed from their nest before you establish if the mother is coming back. Before you do anything, contact your local animal rescue organization for advice.
If youre looking for a quick summary to find out how old is my kitten and key milestones of their growth, weve included a checklist at the bottom of the article!
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What Is The Life Expectancy Of Cats
As with people over the years and advances in medicine, cats have almost doubled their life expectancy. Now each cat is different and your health, care, and nutrition will be essential to determine the years you will live.
Another important factor is whether it is a domestic cat or a cat that lives on the street. The more exposed you are to the dangers of the street the less life expectancy you will have.
In general, a stray cat can live for 2-3 years without castrating and about 5-6 if it is neutered. But their conditions and health will be fundamental to their life expectancy. In the case of domestic cats the average life is 15 to 21 years.
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How Old Is My Cat In Human Years
We see our small feline friends as family members, yet at the same time, we know that they dont live as long as we do. We all realize that cats live for somewhere between twelve and twenty-two years, unless unusual accidents or unexpected illnesses take them away earlier than this, or perhaps if they are the exceptional animals that live for even longer.
It feels intuitively wrong that a family member should be in their senior years when we humans are just heading towards young adulthood, in our mid-teens. So for this reason, it makes sense to us to create a comparative system that allows us to visualize a cats human age i.e. how old they are in human years.
Of course, the system can also be turned around, to work out how old humans are in cat years, but thats a different days work. Or indeed, it would be interesting to compare cat age in cat years with dog age in dog years.
Comparisons could even be made between cat breeds, based on data showing how long pedigree cats live compared to domestic short-haired cats .
And as for the question of how long do cats live for? The area of life expectancy is an interesting one to consider, but its more of a guessing art than a specific science.
The traditional method of comparing ages, widely known, was to keep it simple: just multiply cats years of life in calendar years by seven.
Cats mature rapidly in the first year of life: a one-year-old cat is more like a teenager human than a seven-year-old child.
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Cat Years To Human Years: The Indoor Vs Outdoor Factor
If you used our cat years to human years calculator above, you might be wondering why you had to specify whether your cat is indoor-only, outdoor-only, or a mix. The sad fact is, a cats environment largely influences their lifespan. Ask any veterinarian and theyll tell you: Cats that go outside are more at risk of harm or injury.
Just as ancient man lived outdoors and had a life expectancy of 20-30 years, outdoor cats face exposure, predators, harsh conditions, and chronic wear and tear that can ultimately lead to a shorter life expectancy. Indoor cats are the modern equivalent of pampered, sheltered royalty when compared to outdoor cats or even indoor/outdoor cats.
Speaking of indoor/outdoor cats: Even if 90-95% of your cats life is indoors, your veterinarian still needs to know about the small percentage of time spent outdoors. Why? Because it affects how they care for your cat and what diagnostics, vaccines, medications, and treatment they may use.
So, why is a 5-year-old indoor cat in the prime of his life while a 5-year-old outdoor cat has already entered middle age ?
Cat Years To Human Years: How Old Is My Cat Really
How old is my cat, and how long can cats live? If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about your cat’s age in human years, this is the article for you.
If your cat is a rescue, youâre bound to find yourself wondering How old is my cat? While the number may not matter, having some idea of your catâs age can help you anticipate their needs and provide them with everything they require for a healthy and happy life.
Below youâll learn how catâs age in relation to humans, simple tips for honing in on your catâs age, the signs of a senior cat, how long cats live, and what you can do to help ensure your cat lives a long life at your side. And while youre here, check out how to keep outdoor cats safe.
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Lets Begin With Kittens
It is easiest to tell the age of young kittens based on early developmental signs:
- 1 Day Old: Ears folded and eyes are closed. Kittens wont be able to stand up.
- 3 Days Old: Ears will start to unfold.
- 6 Days Old: Eyes will start to open a tiny bit. Ears will open, but kittens will not be able to hear anything. Kittens will start crawling.
- 10 15 Days Old: Eyes will be fully open, but pupils will not dilate.
- 2 Weeks Old: Kittens will start walking, but they will be very wobbly and uncoordinated.
- 3 Weeks Old: Kittens will now respond to sound because their ear canals are open. They will be walking better, able to use the litterbox, and their baby teeth will start coming in.
- 4 5 Weeks Old: Playing, pouncing, rough- housing, and self-grooming begins.
- 6 Weeks Old: Kittens eyes will change from blue to their permanent color.
- 8 Weeks Old: Kittens should weigh 2 lbs and are big enough to be spayed or neutered. They will look like mini versions of full grown cats. Just like puppies, you can tell more about age when the animal is young.
Determining The Age Of Your Orphan Kitten
A one-week old kitten needs a completely different level of care than a four week old.
Youve rescued an adorable little fluff ball. Before you can decide what you need to do next, you need to determine his age. A one-week old kitten needs a completely different level of care than a four week old. Once you know his age, youll know if you need to stimulate him to potty or provide a litter box.
Please remember that this chart is only a general guide. Every kitten is different. Some kittens open their eyes at three days. Some kittens wean themselves at 3 weeks, while others squeal for a bottle at 8 weeks.
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