Wednesday, March 18, 2009

How Old is Kitty

So I've been revisiting my writing Archive after several years of neglect and I have been discovering a wealth of cool things I have kept over the years. This one was photocopied from the Minneapolis Star Tribune paper back on June 13, 1996. It was in the Fixit column. Firestar's comments will be listed in RED.

A Guide to Figuring Out a Cat's Age in Human Terms
no byline

Q: Is there a way to figure my cat's age compared to human years? Is this important? Why not compute a human's age to a cat's? What about a dog? Definitely NOT important.

A: Veterinarian Terri Derr knows of no chart that compares a cat's age to a human's. But such charts are published for dogs. Oh, talk about discrimination!

Derr said kittens generally mature more quickly than puppies That makes sense, and a cat's adulthood and middle age are longer than a dog's Sounds good, too. Also, cats tend to live longer than dogs. Well, this sounds like it might be a good article after all. purrrrr

Here is Derr's best guess for comparing cat age to human (six months for a cat is equal to 12 human years):

One year equals 18 years
Two years equal 25 years
Five years equal 35 years

(Firestar is older than 25 but less than 35
In my prime, baby
That's Bevie)

10 years equal 45 years
12 years equal 60 years
15 years equal 80 years
21 years equal 100 years

(I'm including the dog chart at Firestar's objection. Yes. I objected.)

For dogs the comparison for human years goes something like this (eight months for a dog equals 13 human years):

One year equal 16 years
Two years equal 24 years
Three years equal 28 years
Five years equal 36 years
Seven years equal 44 years
Nine years equal 52 years
11 years equal 60 years
13 years equal 68 years
15 years equal 76 years

I see no dog is likely to reach 100.
Totally makes sense. purrrr
.

No comments:

Music to Make the Cats go Wild

Just a love song.

Musical Cats



Our Theme Song

Kitten of the Month - August

Kitten of the Month - August
Tara
Tara - Nick name 'ity-bit' because she's so tiny - just over 6 pounds. She's the most skittish of all my babies and even when being petted has the 'pet me, no don't pet me' look

Kitten of the Month - July

Kitten of the Month - July
Amelia
Amelia - Nickname 'Bratelia' since she gets into every draw, cabinet that she can put her paws in.
.

Kitten of the Month - June

Kitten of the Month - June
Sethra

“She’s got tuna. I know she’s got tuna.”

“Shut up, Sethra. Stay on mission.”

“What’s the mission? I thought the mission was to get tuna.”

“No, you stupid fluffbrain—it’s to escape and become outdoor cats, walking by ourselves, on our wild lone, waving our tails.”

“Oh, yeah? And isn’t it you, my dear stripy sister Aliera, who keeps pushing the FEED button on the printer and waiting for tuna to come out?”

“That was when I was much younger. Anyway, she’s at the computer—yes, eating tuna casserole—so we can go into the bedroom and see if we can knock the window screen out.”
“You do it, Aliera. I’d rather mess with her stuff.”

“Will you GET OVER that fixation on her wristwatch?”

“I like the feel of the Velcro on my paws. Hey! That reminds me. We’ve been declawed. How are we going to survive as outdoor cats?”

“New plan coming up….”

“What’s the big deal about being outside cats? Even StalkerCat, who used to hang around and chat us up, is a house cat now and loving it. We’ve got it made—food, petting, toys, valet service for the litter box, and we get to sleep on her bed twenty hours a day. And we can stick our noses up to the window and smell anything interesting going on outside. Why ruin a perfect situation?”

“Sethra, have you no sense of adventure? No curiosity? No cattitude? We were meant to live wild and free, to stalk and slay our prey, to be mistresses of the night!”

“Look, we’re cats. We were meant to rule the world, but that doesn’t mean we have to WORK at it. You can if you want, but I don’t need to. After all, I’M beautiful!

“Did I mention she’s got tuna?”

Kitten of the Month: May

Kitten of the Month: May
Caitlin
Kitten Close-Up.

Kitten of the Month: April

Kitten of the Month: April
Mikey
At 8, you'd think Mikey would understand that he's a carnivore. But, no, he's rather fond of the shrubbery! At 20+ pounds, the veggie-enhanced diet is likely mitigated by a love for long naps on a warm comforter, wet cat food, begging at the table, and a nice lap to drape himself upon in the evening. And he drools when he's happy, which may or may not mean there's a Siamese ancestor lurking in the old dna.

What? Green teeth attract mice!

Kitten of the Month: March

Kitten of the Month: March
Geoff
Who needs a wickerwork basket when you can hop on a cushion and bask?

Kitten of the Month: February

Kitten of the Month: February
Rufus
Rufus is clearly a cat to be reckoned with.
.

Kitten of the Month: January

Kitten of the Month: January
Firestar
Firestar is a tough cat. He has to be, living in Minnesota. He takes care of his family: wife, husband and their son. This was recently proven by his daring capture of yet another mouse in the house. Foolish rodents. They never learn. When not engaged in derring do, Firestar naps, looks out the window and sleeps. Firestar was born in April of 2006.
.