Do Kittens Teeth Fall Out
Their first baby teeth appear when they are around 2 4 weeks of age.
Do kittens teeth fall out. They have no molars. Infected teeth become loose and fall out as bacteria. Teething causes minimal discomfort in kittens but you may find your kitty starts to chew more during this time. You may have noticed your cat chewing on things more lately and that s part of what kittens do to help their loose baby teeth fall out.
These retained teeth are usually removed to prevent further dental issues or infections or to ensure the adult teeth come in without obstructions. Animals generally do fine with missing teeth. Kittens start losing their baby teeth around 9 weeks of age and from that time until their adult teeth are fully grown in at 5 to 6 months you can count on lots of chewing action. But generally the gums heal very quickly and before long you should see adult teeth starting to poke out where your cat s baby teeth used to be.
Sometimes the kitten teeth fail to fall out and it continues to occupy space where only the adult teeth should be. Some kittens have teeth that do not fall out. Three upper and three lower incisors on each side one upper and one lower canine on each side and three upper and two lower premolars on each side. Kittens are born with their milk teeth which allow them to latch onto the nipple and are only made to comfortably handle mother s milk.
These deciduous milk teeth will fall out when they are 3 5 4 months old and the kitten s permanent adult teeth then grow in. However teeth that fall out on their own usually do so because of uncontrolled dental disease. The deciduous teeth begin to fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth starting at around 11 weeks of age. If your vet elects to remove these teeth it is usually done at the same time of the spay and neuter appointment.
And of course it hurts a little when the baby teeth fall out and your kitten s gums are all raw where his teeth used to be. Kittens have a total of 26 deciduous teeth. Cats begin losing their baby teeth at around 12 weeks or 3 months. If your kitten was altered at 6 months and encounters this problem an additional procedure might be required.
If the baby teeth are not lost when the corresponding permanent teeth are coming in it can result in abnormal tooth position and bite tartar and plaque buildup and even abscesses. When do cats lose baby teeth. These teeth are barely strong enough to chew food and typically fall out around 6 months of age. The most commonly encountered tooth problem in kittens is the retention of baby teeth.
By this time the majority of the permanent teeth should have erupted provided there are no complications. Retained deciduous teeth should be surgically extracted once they are discovered to avoid dental problems. This means that kittens teeth twice in their lives once for their set of 26 baby teeth and again with their 30 adult teeth.