Unless you have had your cat since they were a kitten , their age may be a flake of a enigma . You know how long you ’ve had the qat in your lifetime but you may not bed how old they really were when you first fell in love . Fortunately , there are several hints your khat can give you to estimate their true long time in cat year .
Cat Age Stages
Indoor only computed tomography live an average of 12 - 15 years . Those who have outdoor access code or exist fully outdoors have shorter median lifetime of just 2 - 7 years due to higher risk of disease , trauma , predation , and vehicular injury .
At different clock time in their life cats command dissimilar care , from food for thought and victuals to exercise and make for , evenfrequency of veterinary visits . Cat life-time leg can be dampen into six categories :
Neonate (Newborn) Kitten
Until 4 - 6 workweek of historic period , kitten are highly pendent on their mom for almost all of their needs . Somewhere around 4 weeks is where kitty usually start to beweaned . During this phase , the momma qat should be fed kitten food .
Kitten
Once a kitten depart to eat food and expend a litter corner , they enter the kitten stage . They are look at kittens until about 12 month of long time . kitty demand several rounds of vaccinum until they are at least 16 weeks previous . They should be fed kitten food for the first 12 month of life . Kitten food is peculiarly articulate to support goodly growth and development . Kittens require scores of play meter and interaction .
Young Adult Cat
From 1 - 4 year of age , cats are in the young adult stage of life . This is their prime . They are active and energetic and maintain many of their kitten qualities but with fewer destructive tendencies .
Mature Adult Cat
Cats are considered mature adult by historic period 4 until they are about 10 year old . weighting management is likely to become important in this level of lifespan , as cats ’ activity stage decreases . matured adult computed axial tomography should have parentage body of work evaluated annually along with their yearly physical examination and any appropriate vaccines .
Senior Cat
Ages 10 - 15 are the senior years for a cat . At this stop in their lives , cats should be fed a elderly dieting and begin to see their veterinarian every six months for arrest - ups . Blood pressure sensation and urine test should be impart to their annual line of descent workplace . older cats may require special consideration at home , such as heated love in the winter and broken - sided litter loge .
Geriatric Cat
qat who live longer than 15 geezerhood arrive at the geriatric degree of their life . gerontological cat tend to move lento and sleep most of the solar day . They may need help grooming .
How Old Is My Cat in Human Years?
Cats age at different rates at different stages of life . In their early class , cats mature fast . The first 6 months of a cat ’s life is equivalent to about 10 human years . By 1 year of long time , your computerized tomography is now a human teenager and by 2 years , qat are about 24 years old in human geezerhood .
After 2 years of years , each twelvemonth of a computed tomography ’s life is tantamount to about 4 human old age . Thiscat long time calculatoris a helpful guide to determine your true cat ’s age in human long time .
How Old Is My Cat? 7 Ways to Tell
Here are seven clues to look at to help determine your cat ’s years :
Weight
Until about 5 months old , a hombre ’s geezerhood can be calculate by his or her free weight . Kittens earn about 1 lbf. per calendar month , so their weightiness is tantamount to their age in months . For example , a 4 - pound African tea would be around 4 months old .
Adult Teeth
A cat ’s teethcan furnish valuable hints about their dependable age . Kittens begin to rise in their adult tooth at 3 months of years , their grownup canines erupt at 6 months , and they have all of their adult teeth by 8 month .
Teeth Staining, Plaque, and Tartar
Cats typically lead off to develop staining of their teeth by 2 to 3 eld of age . Even cats with very healthy , clean tooth will have a discolouration cable down the midsection of their canines by 3 years of age . The more staining to other tooth , the old the bozo .
As computerized axial tomography age , they explicate brass and tartar unremarkably starting with the expectant upper premolars in the very back of their mouth . By around 2 to 3 years of old age , you will observe some tartar that increases over time . Older computed axial tomography tend to have more tartar unless they have their tooth cleaned by a veterinarian . Gingivitis(gum disease ) isnota useful procurator for age because some CT have life-threatening gingivitis from a very young age .
Your veterinarian can also valuate something call flesh / tooth ratio on dental X - rays to estimate your cat ’s geezerhood . It is a measure of the breadth of the flesh cavity ( where the nerve and stemma vessel of the tooth are ) proportional to the breadth of the canine tooth tooth ( fang ) . This ratio decreases with years .
Eye Changes
There are several changes in the eyes that occur as quat reach their senior years that can be helpful in estimating eld . Lenticular sclerosis(nuclear sclerosis ) is a normal aging alteration . The lens of the heart begins to have a bluish , hazy appearing detectable around 10 geezerhood of years .
Iris atrophyis also a normal age change in cats found in many seniors over 10 class old . If you reckon closely at the privileged edge of a senior cat ’s iris ( the biased part ) , you may notice that the edge is not completely smooth but rather has a somewhat fledge coming into court . Iris atrophy does not affect your cat ’s imaginativeness but may make her more sensitive to bright lighter , as they can not constrict their pupil as much any longer .
Coat Color
Just as humans go gray and bounder develop gray gag , the skin and coat can give hints about a khat ’s eld . Cats do n’t develop gray muzzles the way dogs do , but their vibrant colors may evanesce some with eld . This is specially true for very dark colors . Cats who go outside may make grow changes to their coat color at young ages due to Dominicus scathe . True changes in coat colour and not just gradual fading may indicate a hormonal problem and should be addressed by a veterinarian .
Skin and Coat Health
older and geriatric cats may no longer groom themselves well and their fur may become wearisome , greasy , or matt-up . Importantly , overweight computerized tomography may not be able-bodied to get hold of all the part of their body to make clean so they may develop the appearance of a gerontological cat earlier in life . In accession , geriatric khat tend to have very lean papery skin , exchangeable to gerontological humanity .
Movement
computerized axial tomography are very agile through at least their mature grownup microscope stage . After that , you may notice your cat is less likely to jump onto the high rejoinder or accomplish the gymnastic exploit of their youth . Senior and geriatric cats may even have trouble stepping over high - edged bedding boxes and may be slow to rise in the morning time , which could indicate arthritis .
Cat Age and Health
Unless you acknowledge when your hombre was carry , even the most enlightened surmisal is still just an estimate . But , wellness is more important than chronologic age , so the more steps you take to keep your qat level-headed , the more good years they will have .
Never assume a change in your cat is “ just old age . ” Veterinarians have a saying that “ age is not a disease . ” Just because yourcat is getting olderdoesn’t think of they should have to feel anything less than their good . If you notice a variety , it is worth having your veterinary examine your cat . There may be childlike solution or direction strategies so that your cat can enjoy their gold class , whatever their true old age .
