Your cat’s age in human years

Where the equivalence comes from

From the table published by the feline vets’ associations (the AAFP, together with the AAHA), based on how cats develop and age. The first months go by extremely fast: at six months a cat is like a child of about ten, and at one year it is already a teenager of about fifteen, able to breed. The second year takes it to twenty-four. From then on, the count settles: each cat year adds about four human ones. A ten-year-old cat is around fifty-six, and a fifteen-year-old around seventy-six.

A cat’s life stages

Feline guidelines recognise six: kitten up to six months, junior from seven months to two years, adult from three to six, mature from seven to ten, senior from eleven to fourteen and geriatric from fifteen on. They are not labels for the sake of it: they mark what to keep an eye on. In the mature years, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, diabetes or arthritis start to appear, and that is why from seven on the yearly check-up should include blood tests.

Why size hardly counts in cats

In dogs, size changes everything: a giant dog is old at six and a small one is in its prime. In cats that does not happen, because there is little difference in size between breeds. What does change life expectancy is lifestyle. Cats that roam outside on their own live less on average, because of traffic, fights, infections and poisoning, and well-cared-for indoor cats often reach fifteen or more. A twenty-year-old cat is no longer a rare sight at the vet’s.

The problem with cats not complaining

A cat with arthritis does not limp: it stops jumping up to high places, grooms less well, uses the litter tray less or pees outside it because getting in hurts. A cat with a sore mouth keeps eating, but less or only wet food. Almost everything we put down to it getting older and calmer has a cause, and most of it can be treated. So knowing your cat’s stage is useful in a practical way: it tells you when a change is normal and when it is worth a visit.

What makes a cat live longer

A few fairly simple things. Keeping it at a healthy weight. Making sure it drinks enough, with water in several places and part of its food wet, because the kidneys are its weak point. The yearly check-up, and two a year from eleven on, with blood tests and blood pressure: many feline illnesses can be well controlled if caught early. Surroundings with play, high spots and hiding places, which lower stress. And, if it lives in a flat, nets on windows and balconies.