We all hate to admit it, and sometimes I try to close my eyes to it altogether. But pets age faster than humans.  For example, a two year old dog is much more mature than a two year old child.
Normally a dog lives up to fifteen or sixteen years, with the smaller dogs being the ones that live a bit longer.  But there have been some rare cases recorded of dogs living over 20 years!

Trying to determine the age of a dog depends on the breed…

While it”s been said that one year is equal to seven years in a dogs life, that may be so for a small to medium sized breed.  But for a larger dog like a great dane, they are considered to be senior status closer to the age of five or six.

The larger breeds seem to age faster than the smaller breeds, although nobody can really determine how much faster.  Good health has an important role in slowing down some of the bad when it comes to getting older.

With aging like most everybody, environment, health and wellbeing plays a big part, which is why we should keep track of our pets age.  Age can help determine the right amount of exercise into their daily routine, as well as dental care or any supplements that may be needed to maintain good health.  As they reach their senior years, routine blood work and x-rays will determine any underlying conditions that may be preventable, and help keep them aging gracefully.

Pedigree has a great dog age calculator that’s pretty spot on for calculating your pets age by breed.

Trying to determine the age of a cat….

Cats go through different stages from kitten to adult.  A one year old cat is equal to fifteen years in human years, the second year ages another nine years, after that each year is an additional four years, making the third year twenty eight, and so on.

While cat age calculating is tricky the estimates all seem to be about the same.  But don’t let that scare you , because if you’ve ever owned a cat, you know they can live a long time. Some have been known to live about 30 in human years!  And in cat years that’s well over 100.

Of course how long a cat lives also depends on the care and environment.  Cats aren’t as obvious when it comes to illness as dogs, so routine blood work is very important as they get older.  An indoor cats age will usually differ from that of an outdoor cat. Outdoor cats seem to find trouble ie; fights, contact with unhealthy cats, or food.  It’s always best to try to keep them indoors.

LitterRobot goes into great detail about the aging of domestic cats in comparison to human years.

Healthy pets are happy pets and happiness is the key to a long life❤