When Nutmeg, the World’s Oldest Cat, passed away on August 29, 2017, the world was shocked to learn he was 32 years old – which is about 144 years in human years!! Nutmeg surpassed his expected lifespan by 100%.
While determining a cat’s human age isn’t an exact science, people generally agree that a simple formula can be used to calculate your cat’s age. Each month of the first two years of a cat’s life is equal to a human year. So if your cat is 7 months old, she is 7 in human years; if she is 13 months old, she is 13 years old in human years. At 24 months, or two calendar years, the cat is 24 human years old and then we add on 4 human years for each additional calendar year. So if your cat is 3 years old, then they are 28 years old in human years (24 for the first two years + 4 for the 3rd year and 24+4=28).
Nutmeg was definitely an exception as the average cat lives to 15 years. Many factors can influence how long a cat lives including the breed, the quality of life, whether it is an indoor or outdoor cat, spay/neuter status, quality of nutrition and amount of exercise.
Calculate Your Cat’s Age
Want to quickly calculate your cat’s age in human years? Use the dropdown box below to select your cat’s current age and then the box below will tell you how old your cat is in human years!
Note that is is an approximation only.
Use the Cat Age Calculator
A Farewell to Nutmeg – 32 Years Young
Nutmeg was from the UK and he led a really happy and uneventful life with a wonderful couple, Liz and Ian Finlay, who considered him their son. It wasn’t until 2015 that he suffered a serious seizure and stroke. Nutmeg was treated by Westway Veterinary Centre in Newcastle and they helped him bounce back from the incident. Sadly, his health made a turn for the worse during the summer and he passed away on August 29, 2017. The Finlay family is completely heartbroken and do not plan to get another cat.
Do you have a cat that has lived a really long and vibrant life? Be sure you tell us about it in the comments or on Facebook!