Most often, the owners of cats know exactly the age of their pet, it's quite easy to remember how much the kitten was when he became a member of your family. But there are different cases, and before the newly-minted owners the question arises, how to understand how old the cat is. In particular, this information is relevant when, for one reason or another, an adult animal settles in your house or information about the birth of a kitten is unknown to you. Determining the age of a cat "by eye" is not such a difficult thing as it can show at first glance. It is enough to learn the simple rules that we will give in this article. Thanks to them, you can almost accurately calculate how old the animal is.
If you are interested in how many years of a cat, first of all you should pay attention to the sexual maturation of the animal. Most cats become sexually mature about 7-9 months from the moment of birth, so if a rather adult kitten gets to you, wait for this period. One should not, however, forget that if the conditions are favorable, then the cat can grow up to six months. Therefore, this method will help determine only the approximate age of the animal.
It is important to remember that despite fairly early puberty, physically the cat is fully formed only to 18 months.
Determining the age of the cat in the teeth
This is one of the most accurate ways to find out how old your pet is. If the incisors of the animal are drained - this indicates that he is about six years old. But the teeth begin to fall not earlier than the 10-year-old age of the pet. In addition, the exact age of the cat can be determined by the pattern of the appearance of the teeth:
- milk teeth in cats appear in a month and a half;
- milk teeth change at 6 months;
- the central incisors of the lower jaw are erased in a year and a half;
- on the fangs there are traces of erasure - 5 years;
- loss of all incisors - 12-15 years.
Most often cats live about 15 years. Of course, among them there are record-survivors, whose life counted two and even three decades. Remember - if the life of the cat passes in favorable conditions, then the erasure of the incisors and the loss of teeth occurs later.
Now you know how to understand how old the cat is, but there is another interesting aspect - it is the age of the cat and the person.
How many human years is a cat?
Most of those who own pets are trying to somehow compare the age of their pet with the human. And here there are many ways, the most popular of which is the multiplication of feline years by the number seven. However, not everyone agrees with this statement, and professional felinologists say that every year the methods of counting should differ.
So, if you want to find out how many human years the cat has, remember the following algorithm:
- The first year of life of a cat is equivalent to 15 years of a person's life.
- Two years is the same as 24 human.
- Starting from three to 12 years, the year goes for four (ie 12-year-old cat, if he was a man, would have turned 64 years old).
- At the age of 12 years, each cat year equals three human.
From the above scheme it is clear that the peak of its development (middle age) cat reaches eight years, after which, alas, the aging process begins. In any case, no matter how many years your pet is, remember that it is only in your power to make the cat live a long and happy life. Provide the animal with quality nutrition and decent living conditions, and your cat will live and delight you for a very long time.