Feline development is front-loaded: one year maps to roughly fifteen human years, two years to about twenty-four, then about four per year, the common veterinary reference.
Under this model a ten-year-old cat is around fifty-six in human terms, solidly senior, so exam frequency and screening should scale up accordingly.
The old seven-to-one rule ignores early rapid maturity, badly misreading young cats' development and older cats' care needs.
Conversion is a communication tool only; aging speed varies with genetics, weight, and disease, and life-stage assignment belongs with the vet's exam findings.
