How Old is My Cat

Old Cat. The photographer "Steve took it" (photograph copyright "Steve took it") says he is 20 years old making him 93 in human age. A long life.

How Old is My Cat is a question that cat owners ask themselves sometimes. I actually don't know the exact age of my cat because she came to me from under a stationary car on a cold street in west London in November 1993. At the time I was living in Notting Hill Gate.

I always thought that the method for calculating a cat's age was to multiply by 7. If that was true my cat would be 105 and I don't think that is correct because she is pretty fit, eats well, likes her prawns and tells me what to do.

So I guess the formula of times 7 is a bit unsophisticated. A more accurate method is provided by the Cornell University of Veterinarian Medicine (who could be better qualified?).

The author on the Cornell site says this. Old age starts to show itself at about 7-10 years of age.

Here's a chart based on the Cornell advice:

Cat Age	Human Age
1	16
2	21
3	25
4	29
5	33
6	37
7	41
8	45
9	49
10	53
11	57
12 free bus pass	61
13 retirement and pension	65
14	69
15	73
16	77
17	81
18	85
19	89
20	93
21	97
22 letter from the Queen	101

That makes my girl about 73 or so. She may be 77 or even more are she was at least, I believe, one year old when she found me.

When I write this post I think of a concerned cat lover who had bought some Modern Siamese cats from a breeder and all her cats died before the cat age of 10. I think some vets in the USA (am I wrong? - tell me please) consider 10 a reasonable age for a cat. I always thought late teens was the target. You can now answer the question, How Old is My Cat....... Your cat should live to the human equivalent of old age, which is about mid 80s these days or 18 in cat time. I wonder if female cats live longer than male cats as is the case for humans?

 Old cat - beautiful but sad photo - by by YanivG (Flickr)

How Old is My Cat to Senior Cat Care