My documents - mustache, paws and tail, or how to determine the age of a cat

If you take an adult cat or kitten from responsible and caring owners, then they will of course tell you the age of the animal and even call the day of its birth. But it happens that before you finally get a permanent home, the animal is changed several owners, or maybe you decided on a noble act and sheltered the homeless animal, in these cases, its age can only be guessed. However, there are several ways to determine the age of a cat. Of course, they are more or less approximate, but it's better than nothing at all.

Weddings Time

If your pet is very small or is in the age of a teenager, an approximate idea of his age can be made at the beginning of puberty. Especially if the animal is a female. So, how to determine the age of a cat for sexual activity? The first heat in a young lady usually comes on the 7-9th month of life. However, there are especially "early" people, then this age can shift to 6 months.

Teeth as a birth certificate

If you are interested in how to determine the age of a cat more accurately, we advise you to pay attention to its teeth. If the kitten already has all the milk teeth in his mouth, then it will be a month or more. Change of teeth indicates the achievement of animals 5-6 months of age. The erased lower central incisors are characteristic for 1.5 year old pussies, and the upper ones for 3-3.5 year olds. By 4-4.5 years, the cat already, most often, has an erased surface of medium incisors, and at 5 years there is a deformation of canines. In 6 animals have erased incisors on the edges of the upper jaw. If, on examination, you see that the transverse-oval rubbing part of the lower incisors has worn off, put the age in the region of 7-8 years, and the upper ones - 9 years of life. The central incisors begin to drop out at 10 years, and to 13-15 already completely absent. Of course, knowing how to determine the age of a cat by the state of the jaw, you can more accurately assume its age, although we should not forget that the state of the teeth reflects the lifestyle that led the animal. The better the conditions were, the later the changes begin, they also depend on the nature of the food.

Ancient friends

A person who has the home of a pet he loves is humanized, especially if he has lived together for years. To better understand the age-related changes in the nature and health of the animal, it is not enough to know how to determine the age of a cat. We must also take into account the fact that the life of pets is shorter than human. And the fact that if in a year or two the child is still dependent and needs protection and care, then the cat is already an adult, ready to reproduce. A widely known system in which the cat year is equal to seven human is not true. A more adequate picture will be given by such a scheme showing the ratio of the age of a cat and a person: in a year the animal corresponds to a 15 year old teenager. Two years for the cat are equal to 24-25 human. From 3 to 12 years each year is considered to be 4, and after 12 - for 3 years.

Features of feline physiology

Cats early express a desire to continue the family. While the animal was not strengthened, it was not fully formed, it is impossible to allow mating. This can undermine the health of a future mother, and kittens are unlikely to be strong and viable. Knitting can only mature ladies, but up to what age cats grow, not all owners know. The best time for this is the specialists consider 1.5-2 years. During this period, pregnancy and childbirth is no longer dangerous, and how to determine the age of the cat, we already know.