ARE CAT YEARS THE SAME AS DOG YEARS?

Have you been going by the 1 dog year equates to 7 human years your whole life? So were we! Well, until we learned that this isn't an exact science. As surprising as this may be, the whole 7 years is a total myth, and when it comes to cat years vs. dog years, it couldn't be further from the truth. 

So, how do you work out your dog and cat years? Although we may not be a walking, talking cat years calculator, we can do our best to break it down. After all, figuring out your purrrfect pets' ages is what being a fur-parent is all about! 

CAT YEARS VS. DOG YEARS

We already know that cats and dogs have their differences. However, this applies to their ages too. Yep, you heard us. Dog years and cat years are calculated differently. 

Funnily enough, the way that you calculate your cat's age is closer to the 7-year myth than with dogs. Generally speaking, 1 cat year equates to 6-7 human years. Remember, there isn't a scientific way to figure this out, but this can be used as a benchmark. 

It's important to remember that our pawsome pets' age milestones happen at various stages compared to us hoomans. For instance, the first two years of a cat's life are more or less equal to the first 25 human years. On top of that, the aging process for cats is dissimilar to that of dogs. 

Working out dog and cat years should be done with a full understanding of our pets' age benchmarks and milestones. Then, of course, their breeds come into play here too. For doggos, the bigger the breed, the younger they are. Smaller dogs tend to "mature" faster, but they often live longer. To help you understand this, you can read our dog yeas vs. human years article here. 

Now, if you’ve read our dog years vs human years article, then you’d be fur-miliar with working out your pooch’s age. This is a great first step when comparing dog years and cat years. The next step is to dive into what it means to use a cat years calculator. 

If you’re looking for an easy way to figure out your cat’s age, you can always use an automated cat years calculator. Personally, we like to use this one to figure out cats years vs human years. This is pretty straight forward, but it isn’t totally reliable due to discrepancies with your cat’s breed and overall health.  

Then, there’s the method that requires you to look at your cat’s well-being and general stature. This is considered to be a more accurate look at where your cat is in their life’s timeline.

When it comes to figuring out how old your pets are, your best bet is to do a full analysis of their bodies and attitudes. This is a great way to contrast dog and cat years without using a cat calculator or the 7-year myth. 

There are a couple of areas you can look out for:

So, cat years vs. dog years - are they the same? In short, no. With that being said, both cats and dogs age differently based on their breeds, size, and general health. It's like we always say; if you're concerned about your pet's well-being, visiting your vet is your safest option. Getting a professional opinion can help guide you in the right direction and make sure you're supporting a healthy lifestyle for your pet.