How old is your cat? Scientists created a special calculator

The 7:1 ratio for calculating the age of cats and dogs is well known. However, scientists say that this formula is very conditional. They have created a special calculator that will help you figure out how old your pet is.

According to scientists, cats age at different rates depending on the stage of life they are in. The Daily Mail has explained how to calculate how old your cat really is.

Cats age much faster than humans in the early stages of life, but this process slows down with age.

For example, when a cat turns one month old, studies show that its "human" age is actually closer to six months. But only 60 days pass and this equivalent grows to the age of a 4-year-old child.

The rapid growth spurt continues month after month before slowing down so much that when a cat reaches 12 months, its true age is 16 years. This means that cats reach 11.5 years of age in the first six months of their lives and only 4.5 years in the next six months.

There is an alternative method for determining a cat's age.

The first two years are very similar: it is the equivalent of a 16-year-old human at 12 months and a 21-year-old human at two years.

However, scientists then assume that each additional human year is equal to four "cat years." For example, at three years old, a cat's real age will be 25, at four years old it is 29, and at five years old it is 33.

Researchers from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine said that a one-year-old cat is physiologically similar to a 16-year-old person, and a two-year-old cat is similar to a 21-year-old person.

Using this formula, a 10-year-old cat is similar in age to a 53-year-old person, a 12-year-old cat is similar to a 61-year-old person, and a 15-year-old cat has 73 human years.

The average age of a domestic cat is about 14 years. A Texas cat named Creme Puff, who lived for 38 years, was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. She was born in August 1967 and died in August 2005.

Over the past few decades, this figure has increased dramatically: in the early 1980s, the average cat lived only 7 years, and in the mid-90s, 9.5 years.

As a rule, the age of a cat is determined by the condition of its teeth, but there are other factors that should also be taken into account.

It is important to monitor the cat's physical indicators, not emotional ones, because many cats are active and like to play like kittens, even in adulthood.

You should also pay attention to the cat's coat: while young cats have soft and delicate fur, it becomes thicker and coarser with age, and gray spots may even appear on it. Older cats can also be more bony, have excess skin hanging down, and have cloudy eyes.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA shared what five mistakes shorten the life of a pet.

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