Informational Only · Not Veterinary Advice · Consult Your Vet · Editorial Policy
Cat Professor
CatProfessor

Cat Health, Behavior and Care Guides

FoodHealthBehavior

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Food

Food

623 articles on food.

Browse →Safety

Safety

578 articles on safety.

Browse →Breeds

Breeds

228 articles on breeds.

Browse →Litter

Litter

134 articles on litter.

Browse →Health

Health

125 articles on health.

Browse →Pregnancy

Pregnancy

92 articles on pregnancy.

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Cat tools

Six calculators built on published veterinary guidance, with the sources cited on each page.

Cat Life Stage Checker

Kitten, young adult, mature or senior — and what actually changes in care at each stage.

Open the checker →

Feeding Calculator

Daily calories from body weight and neuter status, using the standard veterinary energy equation.

Work out portions →

Litter Box Calculator

How many boxes a household needs, where to put them, and what the guidance really says.

Check your setup →

Poison Checker

Foods and plants that are dangerous to cats specifically — including the one most people keep in a vase.

Check a substance →

Body Condition Score

Three hands-on checks that place your cat on the nine-point veterinary scale, where 5 is ideal.

Score your cat →

Pregnancy Due Date

Due window from the mating date, plus what should be happening week by week.

Work out the date →

Straight Answers About Cats.

Cat Professor is a reference for people who live with cats. We write up what the veterinary literature and the professional guidelines actually say, in plain language, and we say so when the evidence is thin or the popular rule of thumb has no trial behind it.

  • Guidance traced to published sources
  • Plain about what is convention, not evidence
  • Calculators, not just articles
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Frequently Asked Questions

How many litter boxes does one cat need?

Two. The widely used rule is one box per cat plus one spare, and the AAFP/ISFM environmental needs guidelines separately state that every cat should have a choice of at least two toileting areas. Both land in the same place for a single cat. Our litter box calculator works out multi-cat and multi-floor homes.

How many calories does a cat need a day?

It scales to body weight to the power of three quarters, not to body weight directly. A neutered 4.5 kg cat needs roughly 260 kcal a day; the same equation gives a different answer for an intact cat or a growing kitten. The feeding calculator shows the working.

Is one cat year really seven human years?

No, and the veterinary guidelines do not publish a human-age conversion at all. What they define is four life stages — kitten, young adult, mature adult and senior — because the stage is what changes screening and feeding. The life stage checker uses those bands.

When does a cat count as senior?

Over ten years, under the 2021 AAHA/AAFP life stage guidelines. Cats aged seven to ten are classed as mature adults, which is the stage where routine screening starts to find kidney, thyroid and dental disease before there is anything visible to notice.

Is Cat Professor a substitute for a veterinarian?

No. Everything here is general information for cat owners. A cat that is straining to urinate, has stopped eating, or has suddenly changed its litter box habits needs to be seen the same day — urinary obstruction is a genuine emergency.