Stupid question...please indulge me!

I was always under the impression that kittens were no longer considered kittens at around a year old. My cats are almost 14 months. They don't act like kittens anymore, but I also wouldn't consider them adults. I'm sure it's a little different for each cat, but generally speaking, when is a cat considered an adult?

I believe show cats are adults at eight months, but most pet owners go by the one year mark.

But until you can define "adult" (breeding age? finished growing? fully mature? equals a human age 21?) then there is always room for discussion.

My cats are 7 and 14 years old. They will always be "kittens" to me... just big ones, LOL

For show purposes an adult is any cat that is 8 months or older. In general, an adult cat would be about a year old. My rexes still acted like kittens at times when 10 yrs old - some never "grow up"

My two young' uns are 1 year old this month. About, that is. I still think the male, Cookie, may grow a bit more and put on some more weight. I think his head is going to fill out, if you know what I mean. He is very light feeling. He also sorta still acts kittenish.. playful and a bit rambunxious! His sister acts the same as she always did and she is very petite.

Here is an approximate age comparison chart between cats and people that may help out:

http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/cat_age.htm

So, a year-old cat is about 15 years by humans. I think this is a good comparison, because most 15-yr-olds have almost finished puberty, are sort of adults, yet are still children in some respects and may stil have some growing to do.

Physically, a year-old cat is nearly mature, but just like people it's not one day you wake up and suddenly you're an adult.

It's funny that we can compare this age to a teenager in humans! I was just thinking that these two are more like teenagers than anything! Sapphire is very petite, too. They haven't grown in quite awhile, as I don't even remember the last time I've adjusted their collars (and I check a lot - I'm very worried that I won't notice if they grow and it becomes too tight). I'm beginning to think Sapphire is never going to grow. She's still around 6 lbs.