When would you consider a cat "senior"?

[vanillasugar]

Another good example is my parents cat, who is 14 years old but until the last time I visited him I couldn't have considered him "old". He's gone a bit grey in places, which helped me to realize he's a senior, but he acts basically the same as he always has. He's still playful, still cantankerous if you pet him too long, still seeks out attention when you're on the couch or he wants to lay on and he's trying to trick you into moving.

And then there was Nya. When I got her we figure she was around 10. I'd only had her a year before I considered her "senior" and from then on she went from being "my princess" to "my old girl".

Buddy is going to be 7 this year, and i think that's WAY too young to consider them senior.

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Sassy's nine, and I don't consider her old. She still plays, she still runs zoomies through the house, she still climbs all over her cat tree. She looks pretty old (she has a lot of gray markings, not sure what's gray and what's coloring), but she certainly doesn't act old.

[LauraLeigh]

Originally Posted by Linds

Well, since one of our cats is in his 20s and is just starting to act like an old man I would say I wait for the cat to tell me when they're a senior

I like this answer…. My childhood cat, Rascal, lived to 19, she was an outdoor/indoor cat who never used a litter box and slept in my bed every night until I moved out… I miss her still, then cats lived forever even if they were outside as well, now, here and in my hometown, you let them out, they rarely make past 5 or 6 before a coyote gets them…

I think one side effect of indoor only cats though, is so many overweight cats… They just don't get the same activity level and if the owners are not very careful in their food and diet.. They can get chubby faster, I know mine did at first, I had always had cats that were allowed out.. I lost too many, Bolts was not truly *allowed* out but he wanted out so bad he'd escape every now and then… One time he did not come back.. I no longer let them out and guard my door like a maniac even though I feel mean at times, and Nuts was packing on weight fast.. I had to adjust for his being inside more…

Nuts is 6, Mini 4 and they both still act like kittens!!