How Old Is Your Pet Really? Understanding Dog and Cat Aging

Abbey Vets looks at how old your pets are in human years

18th February 2025

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Dogs:

It used to be common information that dogs age 7 years to every human year.

This is actually not true, a much more accurate representation of this is to consider them as small, medium and large breeds.

Bigger breeds of dogs tend to age a lot quicker as their life expectancy is shorter, whereas smaller breeds can live much longer.

Larger breed of dogs are considered to be in their ‘senior’ years by the age of five.

Medium sized dogs are considered ‘senior’ from the age of seven.

Small breed dogs considered ‘senior’ around the age of ten

Cats:

The first year of a cat's life is equal to 15 human years.

The second year is equal to 24 human years.

After the second year, each additional year is equal to about four human years.

Life stage equivalents:

Kitten: A 0–1 year-old cat is equivalent to a 0–1 year-old human.

Junior: 12–18 month-old cat is equivalent to a 15–21-year-old human.

Prime: A 3–6-year-old cat is equivalent to a 28–40-year-old human.

Senior: A 7–10-year-old cat is equivalent to a 44–56-year-old human.

Like us dogs and cats can suffer from age-related diseases, such as -

diabetes

high blood pressure (hypertension)

Overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism)

heart disease

arthritis

kidney disease

liver disease

dementia

eye changes

Early detection of these diseases can help us prolong the quality of your pets later years, meaning they have many more happy golden years.

Here at Abbey Vets we offer “Super Senior Clinics” where our amazing nurses will give your pet a full check over, this includes.

full blood work up - to check kidney/liver and overall health

urinalysis - to check kidney function

blood pressure measurement - to make sure this is within the normal range

full nose-to-tail examination

mobility analysis

expert advice on diet and how to help them at home

If you think that your pet would benefit from this amazing clinic then please give us a call on 01743 232713

Or email admin.abbey@cvsvets.com

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