Vets saying different age? + cataracts?

Hi everyone. New here

Yesterday I brought my cat to the vet to check on her scratched eye. We brought her to the ER vet the Saturday before for her eye. I found my cat abandoned in a McDonalds parking lot, and our vet at the time said she was about 7 months old. During my visit yesterday, the vet said he thinks she's much older (possibly 6-9 years?!). He said the build up on her teeth makes him think she's that age, but younger than 10 since her teeth are still sharp. He thinks she just is a "forever kitten" since she's small and kitten-like. We compared her teeth to our other cat (that we know is 2.5 yo) and they look only slightly more yellow. But they both have very healthy gums.

He also said he believes she has cataracts? He was dismayed that she had been seen by 3 vets in the last year and had never been diagnosed.

Does this seem weird? Would our previous vet really estimate her to be 7 months old when we first found her? And how could the other vets miss the cataracts when they've looked in her eyes?

Its weird but I could see it happening. If you think back to when you found her or compare photos, did she physically grow in size any? If she got taller, longer, or anything other than rounder then she was anywhere under 18 months when you found her because most cats reach full growth by 18 months. Although, there are exceptions for large breed but that isn't her. Also there are cats who do most their growth before 9 months so she might not have grown enough to notice. My little girl hasn't change much in size since she was about 9 months old. 

If the ER vet is more familiar with cats and dentistry I could see that one being better at age estimates. If every other vet after the first went by what you told them without actually looking they could have been following the first ones misstep. Shoot, my vet though my cat, who she is really familiar with, was around 5 years old but he just turned 3. Since I have had him since he was 5-8 weeks old I don't have any doubt about his age. 

Reversely, that vet could be completely wrong about her age and she just has bad teeth so the teeth look older. I have had that cat whose teeth were so bad he didn't have more than a few left by the time he was 5 years old (which didn't slow him down, he gummed everything to death). That same cat had several teeth removed by the rescue we got him from because they were already going bad by the time we got him (6-9 months old). 

As to the cataract claim, it would be the same type of thing. Maybe no other vet really looked closely at her eyes because of her being younger (at least that they know) so they weren't looking for it. With the ER vet saying she was older and looking at her eyes for a problem; he saw a problem. Or he is jumping to a problem because he wanted to see a problem. 

I would go back to whichever regular vet you trust and tell them what the ER vet said. Have them look specifically for age identifiers and at her eyes. If they say the ER vet is wrong I would believe it. If they do a "OMG, how did I not notice!" thing then the ER vet was right. But I wouldn't worry or stress too much until you see if that ER is actually reliable or just an opinionated person who made a mistake. 

Do you have a photo? 

This is my 2 year old little girl and 3 year old boy (that the vet thought was 5).

Sorry! I made my post confusing. My cat (Bay) saw the ER vet when I saw her hurt eye. That ER vet didn't say a word about the cataracts, she just saw the scratch gave us meds, said Bay had stomach tenderness as well, and that was that. I made an appointment at our regular vet (but had a new guy I had never seen before) to check up on her eye and stomach, and he was the one that said Bay was older than we thought and had cataracts. My friend's friend is a vet and also works at an animal rescue and works with a lot of cats. I'm going to take Bay to see her on Monday to get a second opinion, before taking Bay to the ophthalmologist. Our regular vet also did a full blood panel to rule our diabetes or anything else that could cause cataracts.

As for her size, my husband SWEARS she has grown bigger and taller. But now I can't tell. She was super malnourished when I found her, approximately 3-4 lbs. she's now about 6.5 lbs but a health weight.

Here's a pic from when I first rescued her:

Current pictures (the darker cat):

Btw Kieka, your cat is adorable!!!

Here's another picture from when Bay was younger and I rescued her:

I get it now but what I said still applies (whew).

The younger photos of her she does look a little on the young side to me compared to now. Although she doesn't look 7 months old maybe closer to a year or year and a half. But not as mature as now. With the weight and malnutrition maybe she was a smidgen older than the original 7 month but I don't think she is the 6-8 years. Age gets harder on cats after 2 years old until they start to look older.

I know my girl was 4 months when I got her but at barely a pound and severely malnutritioned the vet guessed closer to 2 months old. Vets aren't perfect. If the new vet is basing her age just on tooth condition that's a little questionable to me. My 3 year old has build up (cleaning this year, yay) but my Moms 4 year old has almost none and they eat the exact same thing. Build up isn't the best age estimator IMO.

I'd bring some of the younger photos in case the vet friend wants to compare. I am very curious what the second opinion is.

Yours are very pretty kitties too. My girl (the top one) is barely 7 pounds. But my boy (the bottom one) is 13 pounds. I think the malnutrition had a big effect on both our girls growth.