Figuring out a cat's age

Here's a rough way to figure a cat's age in human terms: Count the first year of a cat's life as being comparable to the time a human reaches the early stages of adulthood — the age of 15 or so. The second year of a cat's life picks up some of that maturity and takes a cat to the first stages of full adulthood in humans — a 2-yearold cat is roughly equivalent to a person in his mid-20s.

From there, a "5 equals 1" rule works pretty well. A cat of 3 is still young, com- parable to a person of 29. A 6-year-old cat, similar to a 41-year-old person, is middleaged. And a 12-year-old cat, similar to a 65-year-old person, has earned the right to slow down a little.