How to determine the age of a cat?

How do you guesstimate the age of a cat by looking at them? I noticed that when I asked my vet how old my newest kitten is he looked at her teeth. How is this done? I was wondering if I could determine the age of my oldest kitty by looking at her teeth. All I know is I've known her for at least six years.

 

There is no way to really tell a cat's age after they lose their baby teeth and all the permanent teeth are grown in (about 6 months.) However, by looking at a few things you can make a guess of the age. First you can look at the teeth. Check if there are any teeth missing or the condition they are in. Younger cats have whiter teeth that look pearly while cats with wore teeth are usually older. However, this is not always the case, a old cat might have perfect looking teeth where as a young cat can have rotten teeth. You could also take a look at your kittys eyes. Older cats eyes look cloudy and can have cataracts. Usually if they do, there older then 12 or so years. And finally, just look at your cat. Younger kitties have more muscles and are in better shape. Well I hope this helped and good luck with finding the age of your cat :roll:

 

It's never easy to work out the age of a cat, especially in the years between kitten and old age. Perhaps your vet might be able to give you more of an idea as obviously they see lots of animals of all ages.

 

My vet also told me the same thing about the teeth. A friend of ours ask us to take in a stray kitten. We all thought he was around 6 weeks, but we found out from the vet that he was around 6 months. He told us he could determine his age due to his teeth. We all were shocked to say the least. It must have something to do with the length of the cat's teeth.