How To Tell How Old A Cat Is If You Dont Know When They Were Born
Even if you canât be sure when your cat was born, itâs still possible to determine their age with relative accuracy. The state of your catâs teeth, coat, muscle tone, and eyes all offer insight into their age.
Using the tips below, you can work to identify your catâs life stage and then make an educated guess as to exactly how old your cat is.
How Long Does The Average Cat Live
A cat’s lifespan varies with lifestyle and genetics. With optimal health and good genes, a well-nourished and well-exercised indoor-only cat will typically live longer than indoor-outdoor cats. According to a college of veterinary medicine, the average lifespan for indoor only cats is 10-15 years. With that said, indoor-outdoor cats usually live longer than strays and ferals. While this is simply the average, there are always exceptions to every rule.
Determining Your Cats Age
It can be difficult to tell how old your cat is if you havent had him since birth. It is helpful to know roughly how old your kitty is so you can provide better age-appropriate care. Your veterinarian can approximate your cats age based on tests of his blood and organs, but here is a little guide for the rest of us!
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Can I Get A Cat If I Have Children
Cats and kids can become great companions as they grow and having a pet can be of great benefit to little ones. However, youll need to bear in mind a cats previous experiences and personality as well as ultimately what you are looking for in a pet.
While children might be enthusiastic about homing a cute kitten, kittens need plenty of care and attention as well as regular supervision. Adult cats can be less frenetic, which suits many families. Teaching children basic cat care as well as how to treat them carefully is a great idea and encourages a sense of responsibility too.
Cats are generally good with babies, choosing to either become friendly with them or stay well out of their way. If youre expecting a new arrival and youre worried about choosing a cat, there are plenty of things you can do to help them settle in. Take a look at our guide.
How Old Is My Cat In Cat Years
How Old is My Cat in Cat Years: Want to Calculate the age your cat, then this would have done if it is a person with these explanations and with the table of equivalences like a human age vs age of the cat. For humans it is easy but for the pets like cats you need to see the cat years calculation. It is not the same as the for all the pets. For our Catsfud followers we are providing a simple guide to know about age of cat like cat years and also you can know the cat years to human years with us.
If you have a cat, surely you have considered how old you are and it is not worth applying what is said of the dogs of 1 year of them is 7 of our years. Check the table to find out exactly how old your cat is. You can see the below image and tell the age of your cat in cat years. Actually a cat can live up to 25 years of age so we cannot calculate exactly, for that we need to check the cat years calculator that will simply show the age of our cat and cat years to human years. So we can simply get our cat age with this.
Once if you have got an idea of how to see how old is my cat in cat years then obviously you can see the calculation of this cat years to the human years and also human years to cat years. For complete information on this cat years chart and how to calculate the age of cat simply check our guide below. You can have a table that shows the cat to human years with that you can simply estimate the cat age in human years.
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How To Calculate Your Cats Age In Human Years
At first it’s a little tricky, but then it gets very simple, Becker says. That’s because cats will develop rapidly in their first two years of their livesreaching the human equivalent of the mid-20s by the time they’re 2 years old.
Here’s how Becker lays out the process: A 1-year-old cat is the equivalent of a 15-year-old human. Then, a 2-year-old cat is 25 in human years. Then it gets much easier: Each year of a cat’s life is roughly equal to four human years, so a 3-year-old cat is about 29 a 4-year-old cat is 33 a 5-year-old cat is 37 and a 6-year-old cat is 41. And so on and so on. If your cat gets to 20, she’s around 97 human years old.
Unlike dogswho have different human age equivalents depending on their sizethe formula for cats is universal because they’re all roughly the same size.
To find out the exact human age of your cat, look at the chart below!
Physical And Mental Development
Whether chasing prey or dust bunnies, all cats love the game of pursuit. Cats never lose their keen fascination with movement, light and shadows, and the element of surprise. Dont forget to play with your cat just because he seems to have outgrown the playful kitten stage. Active play prevents boredom and helps control destructive behavior.
Your cats body is fully developed now. Mature cat eyes see far better than human eyes, especially in the dark, and cats also hear better than we do. Hopefully, your cat has already been spayed or neutered, which prevents unwanted pregnancy and offers other health benefits. A good way to bond with your cat, now that he is calmer and has settled down, is to brush him. Most cats love to be stroked, and regular brushing removes loose hair and reduces the likelihood of hairballs. Longhaired cats may require a wide-toothed comb to remove mats and tangles.
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Bonus: More Expert Care
No disrespect to your vet, yet there are vets and then there are vets.
As in every profession, some people are better than others.
If you feel that you could be getting better veterinary service, check out the links below.
Hospitals and animal doctors dedicated to the excellent health and care of pets:
How Old Is Your Cat In People Years
Beginning at around age 9, your cat enters senior years. At this stage, cats often begin to develop diseases common to their senior-human counterparts, such as diabetes, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, kidney disease and cancer. In fact, one out of 10 pets that appears healthy, has an underlying disease1.
First, identify your cat’s real age using this chart. Then, discuss ways to keep your pet healthy with your veterinarian.
How old is your cat in people years?
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How Is A Cat’s Age Determined
You may be wondering how exactly a cat’s approximate age is determined. Perhaps you have taken in a stray cat that you have been feeding for several weeks, and are curious how old the cat is and what to look for. While looking at a cat’s teeth is often a good indicator, it is not a foolproof method. For that reason, veterinarians prefer to examine the whole cat. In addition to looking for wear along the teeth, veterinarians will examine for any signs of cloudiness to the lenses of the eyes. They will also check for signs of grooming issues as older cats can be less thorough due to dental issues or weight gain. Labwork can show changes in organ function that are more common with age . Keep in mind your veterinarian is making an educated guess as to your cat’s age – there isn’t one specific way of determining a specific age unless the birthday is known.
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 this formula? Or perhaps I should ask, how old are YOU in cat years?
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How Old Is My Cat In Human Years
Although theres no reliable scientific way to calculate the relationship between human and cat years, its generally agreed that the first two years of a cats life are roughly equal to the first 25 of a humans. After this, each additional year is around four cat years. This means if your cat is six years old, their equivalent cat age in human years will be around 41.
Changes In Muscle Tone:
Younger cats will have better muscle tone because they are more active. Older cats may be saggier-skinned and bonier on the rump or shoulder blades.
It is said that a cat who lives outdoors ages nearly twice as fast as an indoor cat. At 14 cat years old, an indoor only cat would be 72 human years old, and an outdoor cat would be 120 years old. This rate of aging kicks in around the 3 year mark.
Whether indoor or outdoor, a cat ages a lot the first 2 years. When a cat is nearly one year old, they are approximately 15 human years old. When the cat reaches 2 years old, he is approximately 24 human years old.
An indoor cat will age approximately 4 human years for every one cat year, and an outdoor cat will age approximately 8 human years for every one cat year. This is another good argument for keeping your cat indoors Not only will you keep them safe from all the outdoor dangers, but they will probably live a lot longer and be easier to care for in the long run.
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How Long Does It Take For A Cat To Recover After A First Litter
Many people think that female cats cannot get pregnant if theyre still nursing.
However, thats not entirely true.
As long as its still the breeding season, most felines have a heat cycle within four weeks after weaning their kittens.
For this reason, your pet can already get pregnant while shes still nursing her kittens.
To explain it further, lets say your pet gave birth to a litter. Within four weeks, the kittens will be feeding on their mother alone. After that period, theyll start eating solid food.
Four weeks after the kittens started eating solids, and your pet can already get pregnant.
In short, your pet can already recover and get pregnant every two months.
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Two To Six Months Old
Somewhere at the beginning of the second month, your kitten will be able to start learning how to use the litter box. This is really achieved by watching the mother cat and developing those instincts over time.
Theyll also be walking with more confidence than before although they still might be shaky in their approach. Kittens are quick learners though, and will eventually develop the balance needed to walk comfortably. During this stage, a lot of exploration takes place.
Around the 7 to 8-week mark, kittens should weigh between 1 to 2 pounds. That might seem small, but considering that most cats only ever weigh 6 to 12 pounds in weight means they are growing quite quickly!
Kittens will typically have a larger appetite compared to adult cats. Its not uncommon to find yourself feeding a kitten multiple meals per day as their bodies grow.
At this point, especially in the second and third months, your kitten will need its first round of shots. Kittens should be getting vaccinations every three to four weeks until they are around five or six months old.
The vaccinations can be more spread out after that period. Kitten vaccinations are vital because they help protect against common diseases. If you have a specific breed that is more likely to catch a certain disease, then they may need additional vaccinations beyond the core group.
Below is a few fo the common diseases that kitten vaccinations will help prevent against:
- Feline rhinotracheitis
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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!
How Do Cats Age
As you can see, the common 1:7 ratio is very misleading cats age much more quickly in their first two years of life and then the aging process slows down and continues more steadily after that.
How did veterinarians settle on this cat age to human age calculation?
When it comes down to it, the AAHA states that their guidelines are based on the physical and behavioral changes that occur at different stages of a cats life and then these stages are matched to stages of human life.
In other words, a one-year-old cat is physiologically similar to a 15-year-old human in their own respective ways, both the cat and the human are at similar stages of growth and development.
Of course, as with humans , there will be some variation in the way your individual cat ages. But unlike dogs, there seems to be much less variation with different cat breeds and the way they age. With dogs, youre much more likely to see smaller breeds live longer. Even when we look at cats by breed, the variations dont seem large enough to contribute to these kinds of age differences.
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What If Tiger Got Lost
They had one major concern: what if Tiger got lost? He had never been beyond the four walls of their home, and if he got carried away playing outside, he might find himself a few hundred yards away. How could they be sure that hed have a good enough sense of direction to find his way back home?
Most cats do seem to manage to find their way around without a problem: they must have some sort of inbuilt compass. But occasionally, cats go missing, and its very upsetting for owners when this happens.
How Many Years Do Cats Live On Average
It’s common to see a cat reach 20 years old these days, Becker says, so it’s safe to assume a healthy cat will make it within a few years of that. Recently, the world’s oldest a cat made it all the way to 31 years old.
We can’t guarantee your feline pal will make it into a third decade, but there are a few things you can do to elongate your cat’s life. Becker lists three main factors that determine your cat’s longevity: heredity, environment, and nutrition.
There’s not much you can do about heredity once you bring home your cat, Becker says. But you can do your best to make her environment safe. That means limiting time outsidewhere dangers like predators, vehicles, and parasites could injure your cat. That’s why outdoor cats generally don’t live as long as their indoor counterparts.
The third factor is nutrition, so you’ll want to work with your veterinarian to make sure your kitty stays as close to her healthy weight as possible. Cats at or near their ideal body weight will live longer than those who aren’t, Becker says.
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Senior Years Of Cat Life
Much like dog ages quickly, so does a cat. Around this point, your cat should be 10 years old which is somewhere between 60 70 years in human years. Thats quite old!
The senior years of a cats life can either be really enjoyable for them or really painful. Much of this is dependent on how well they are taken care of in the early stages of life.
Still, cats bodies do wear down with age. They can develop all types of physical issues such as arthritis, obesity, poor vision, and poor balance. Diseases will be harder to fight against without serious medical attention.
The lack of physical activity can be particularly troublesome as you try to help your cat maintain a healthy weight balance. Your cat may also require a change in diet so they can get certain nutrients and vitamins to help them function well at this age.
The senior years of a cat can vary, but once they get to around 15 years of age then that is considered a huge milestone. This also comes with more complications. Cats 15 years or older will likely experience serious behavioral changes. This can include changes in how their meow vocalization sounds, lack of awareness, and even refusal to use the litter box properly.