Cats age differently from humans. As a cat owner, it is important to understand how does cat years equal to human years. This article would explain how many cat years are equivalent to human years, conversion for cat years, and the average lifespan.
Understanding your cat’s age will help you to be able to provide the best care at every life stage and be able to identify when your cat is mature, so you know how best to care for her.
Table of Contents
How Long Do Cats Live?
Most cats live a very long life. However, how long a cat will live will depend on how well you take care of it, it’s genes, and living surroundings.
This post contains affiliate links. However all the information provided on this site are my own honest opinions. See more in Disclaimer.
According to Pet MD, the average life span of a cat is 10 to 15 years. Outdoors cats, however, have a shorter life span of just about seven years, while indoor-only cats have a higher life span of about 14 years.
The oldest recorded cat, Creme Puff, lived for over 38 years in human years, over 153 years in cat years. She was an indoor-only cat.
If you live in a suburban or urban area, you should keep your cat indoors if you want it to live longer.
There are many dangers your cat faces when it goes out, and sometimes it can even end up lost, which is another reason to keep your cat indoors.
Cat Spraying No More will help you control your cats spraying. Keep your home odor free.
How Does Cat Age Equal To Human Years?
Cats don’t have much breed variety, so their age calculation can apply to all breeds. I recommend calculating cat age using age guidelines set by the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and International Cat Care.
Using this guideline, the first 15 years of a human is equal to just the first year of a cat’s life. After that, it takes nine human years for a cat’s second year, and then, it’s four human years each for the remaining years of a cat.
Calculating your cat’s age this way means that a six-year-old cat is approximately 40 years of human age if you do your calculations correctly.
These guidelines haven’t been scientifically proven, but they were created from studies and observations so that you can rely on them.
How To Know If Your Cat Is Mature
Since cat years are not calculated in 365 days like human years, it could be difficult for some cat owners to keep tabs on their cat’s age.
You can use other factors to determine if your cat is mature, aside from calculating their age. These factors include the cats’ teeth, coat, eyes, and behavior changes.
A mature cat will have some missing teeth, tartar build-up, and yellow stains in their teeth. Their fur might turn gray; for some breeds, it could get thicker and coarser than when they were younger.
You would also notice discharge, tearing, and cloudiness in their eyes, and aged cats would engage in fewer activities.
You can also take your cat to a vet to help you decipher her age. Veterinarians are best in understanding these body changes, and they could give a more accurate estimate.
See this video for more information on cat age.
Learn How To Understand & Speak With Your Cat!
Conclusion
If you were curious to find out how does cat years equal human age, I’m sure you now understand how to do the calculation. However, you should note that cat age is relative to their surroundings, as pointed out in the article.
Indoor cats age slower than outdoor cats who age about two times faster. So based on this, if you want your cat to live longer and healthier, you may want to make sure it spends more time indoors than outdoors.
Also, feed it only healthy cat food and avoid human foods as there are some human foods that are bad for pets. If you found this post on cat years vs human years useful, share it with all your friends online.
