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How Does the CatAge Calculator Work? |
Overall Metric
CatAge is the biological age of your cat, measured in people years. Based on science and statistics, the CatAge Test calculates CatAge by assessing over 40 individual feline health factors, from weight and nutrition to exercise, behavior, and safety.
For example, studies show that an overweight cat will have more feline health problems, such as diabetes, osteoarthritis, and lameness, and will not live as long as a physically fit cat. Statistics show that a cat with behavior problems—such as home destruction and not getting along with other pets—is more likely to end up in a cat shelter. Therefore, his or her risk of euthanasia is higher. Also, feline health statistics show that a cat who is often in an unsafe, uncontrolled environment is at a higher risk of having accidents, becoming lost, or being hit by a car, than a cat who remains indoors. All of these factors contribute to the calculation of CatAge.
Depending on how you answer each feline health question for your cat, the CatAge calculator assigns a numeric benefit or cost toward the cat's final CatAge. Benefits represent positive health attributes or habits, and costs represent negative health attributes or habits.
Cats' Growth Rate and Mortality Influence CatAge
The CatAge calculator assesses the CatAge of kittens, adult cats, and very senior cats differently. A kitten grows rapidly during the first 2 years, then his or her growth spurt levels out. The test takes this growth process into account when calculating CatAge. The test also considers average mortality, which varies greatly between house cats and outdoor cats. The test then converts the actual years to CatAge years by factoring in average human mortality.
Test Answers Influence Each Other's "Weight"
Each question in the CatAge Test is weighted differently. The weight of an answer is measured according to how much a certain feline health attribute can affect aging. For example, cancer, feline leukemia, and obesity are weighted heavily; they can greatly influence CatAge. However, occasionally skipping a dental treat or having an occasional litter box accident would have a much smaller influence, and carry less weight.
The CatAge calculator is cumulative, meaning each answer affects another answer. For example, if a cat has an unhealthy medical history and also has a skin condition, the skin condition would factor more heavily in the CatAge calculation than it would if the cat has a healthy medical history and the same skin condition.
In other words, overall feline health, medical conditions, behavior, nutrition, and safety all affect one another, so different cats would have to have the same exact profiles to have the same calculation on a specific health condition.
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