125 year old cat

Hypnodisc · 15/12/10 - 18:32

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3277000/My-pussycat-is-125-years-old.html

I don't understand how the cat can be 125. Does anyone understand this or am I being really thick?

Granny Weatherwax · 15/12/10 - 18:33

This might help!

CXC3000 · 15/12/10 - 18:34

Hypnodisc wrote: »

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3277000/My-pussycat-is-125-years-old.html

I don't understand how the cat can be 125. Does anyone understand this or am I being really thick?

By taking the words of the Sun as 'fact', we're all in deep trouble

[Deleted User] · 15/12/10 - 18:35

It's a typo. It should say it was born in 1884.

Hypnodisc · 15/12/10 - 18:36

Granny Weatherwax wrote: »

This might help!

Well yes, except It says 125 in human years though..

Glen · 15/12/10 - 18:41

Hypnodisc wrote: »

Well yes, except It says 125 in human years though..

It's The Sun, don't expect it to make sense.
What it should say is that the cat is 26 years old and would be (apparently) the equivalent as a human living to 125.

Granny Weatherwax · 15/12/10 - 18:41

Hypnodisc wrote: »

Well yes, except It says 125 in human years though..

Yip

That's what the conversion table does, converts cat years into human years.

Glen · 15/12/10 - 18:50

Granny Weatherwax wrote: »

Yip

That's what the conversion table does, converts cat years into human years.

Do cats orbit the sun slower than humans then?

Granny Weatherwax · 15/12/10 - 19:05

Glen wrote: »

Do cats orbit the sun slower than humans then?

Not only slower, they also go backwards.

colnechris · 15/12/10 - 19:06

Thats gonna be one dusty pussy :eek:

[Deleted User] · 15/12/10 - 19:16

Glen wrote: »

Do cats orbit the sun slower than humans then?

No, but they age at a different rate.

By and large the bigger the animal the longer it lives. Linked into its heartrate IIRC (the faster the heart beats per minute, the quicker the body clock winds down). So something like a mouse or tiny bird's heart beats X amount of times in its lifetime - the same amount of heart beats as a blue whale or elephant. The larger animal lives longer purely because its heart takes longer to get to the upper limit of beats as it beats more slowly.

Not in all cases though - I think parrots like macaws can live to a great age for a bird, something like 70 "human" years. And of course giant tortoises which can live for hundreds of human years.

Richieboy87 · 15/12/10 - 19:19

God poor Cat looks old

[Deleted User] · 15/12/10 - 19:21

Richieboy87 wrote: »

God poor Cat looks old

I agree - a bit knackered/raggedy looking. But still, its clearly happy/healthy to have lived so long!

Glen · 15/12/10 - 19:25

jon8769 wrote: »

No, but they age at a different rate.

I realise that different animals have different typical lifespans, but it's the terminology used by the likes of the Sun that is nonsense.
If you want to give a figure to relate to whether something is old or young for its species you should say "the equivalent as a human living for [x] years".
Terms like "dog years" are just stupid.

tingramretro · 15/12/10 - 19:26

jon8769 wrote: »

No, but they age at a different rate.

By and large the bigger the animal the longer it lives. Linked into its heartrate IIRC (the faster the heart beats per minute, the quicker the body clock winds down). So something like a mouse or tiny bird's heart beats X amount of times in its lifetime - the same amount of heart beats as a blue whale or elephant. The larger animal lives longer purely because its heart takes longer to get to the upper limit of beats as it beats more slowly.

Not in all cases though - I think parrots like macaws can live to a great age for a bird, something like 70 "human" years. And of course giant tortoises which can live for hundreds of human years.

Parrots can live a lot long than 70 years-well over a hundred, in fact.

[Deleted User] · 15/12/10 - 19:27

Glen wrote: »

I realise that different animals have different typical lifespans, but it's the terminology used by the likes of the Sun that is nonsense.
If you want to give a figure to relate to whether something is old or young for its species you should say "the equivalent as a human living for [x] years".
Terms like "dog years" are just stupid.

Yep, I agree with you.