I heard my sister say to her cat that the cat gets prettier with age--that the cat does not get wrinkles. This seems to be the case. So is it true that housepets do not get wrinkles with advanced age? If so, naturally, what is their secret?

Wrinkles are caused with the outer layer of skin grows thinner and loses elasticity. In humans, the skin on the face is thinner than other parts of the body so wrinkles are more apparent there. With cats, the skin on their head and back are thicker than other areas. In addition, cat skin is covered with hair. This protects the skin from the sun (a huge factor in pre-mature wrinkling in humans) as well as protection from heat and cold and other environmental factors that aid the wrinkling process.

As cats age their skin becomes thinner just like humans. And thinner skin wrinkles, just like humans. But because the skin is covered by hair, the wrinkles they get through the natural aging process are not easily seen.

Well, if I were to make my face hairy, the result should then be some beneficial health effects, but they would be outweighed by social disadvantages.

It reminds me of a "Twilight Zone" episode in which a beautiful woman felt torment, because she wanted to look like everyone else, who had distorted faces but were, nevertheless, deemed to be the beauties.