Do cats have baby teeth? Surely you didn't know it, but cats too change their teeth as they grow If you have a feline puppy at home and at some point you discover one of its small but sharp teeth, don't be scared! This is completely normal.
As happens with humans, the replacement of teeth occurs at a specific time in life and is accompanied by certain discomforts that you should be aware of in order to know how to deal with them and make the process easier for your cat. If you want to know at what age cats change milk teeth, keep reading this article on our site.
Characteristics of milk teeth in cats
Cats are born without teeth, the first weeks of life they can only feed on their mother's milk. The so-called milk teeth appear from the third week of life, approximately from day 16 onwards.
Now then, how many teeth do cats have? The incisors appear first, then the canines and finally the premolars, until reaching a total of 26 teeth in total by the eighth week. Although small, these first teeth are quite sharp, so little by little the cat will stop suckling the puppies due to the damage they do to her, so it will be time to move on to slightly more solid, albeit soft, foods.
Now that you know what their milk teeth are like, do cats shed their teeth? Find out by reading the following lines.
When do cats shed their teeth?
These milk teeth are not permanent, so from 3 to 4 months of age the kitten will begin to shed them by the so-called permanent teeth. The process of changing teeth is much slower than the appearance of the first ones, so it lasts until month 6 or 7, when the new teeth must have completely appeared.
This way, it is not surprising that you notice that your cat has lost a tooth during this period of time. In order:
- Incisors appear first.
- Then the canines.
- After the premolars.
- Finally a new set of parts, the molars.
All these teeth appear until complete 30 teeth. As we said, during the moult it is likely that you will find some of the teeth at home, but if your kitten is between the indicated ages you have nothing to worry about.
The process consists of the permanent teeth being “hidden” in the gums, so they begin to put pressure on the baby teeth so that they fall out and take their place. This is a natural procedure, but sometimes a complication may occur, such as a impacted tooth
It is said that a tooth is retained when the milk piece fails to detach despite the pressure exerted by the permanent tooth to make this happen. When this is the case, the entire denture suffers problems, since the pieces are displaced from their corresponding place due to the compression force exerted on them. It requires a visit to the vet to determine the best option for all the teeth to come in correctly.
Now that you know that cats do change their teeth, and when do cats change their teeth, you may be interested in taking a look at the following article on How to clean my cat's teeth?
Is there discomfort during the change of teeth?
You know at what age cats change their teeth, but do they feel pain? The substitution of milk teeth for permanent teeth causes different discomforts in the pussycat, very similar to those experienced by children when their first teeth come out. Your kitten may:
- Feel pain.
- Your gums are irritated.
- Babee excessively.
- You have bad breath.
- Be irritable.
- He hits his mouth with his paws.
Due to all these discomforts, the kitten refuses to eat mainly because of the pain it feels, but it will seek to nibble everything it finds at your fingertips, because this gesture relieves a little the irritation in the gums.
To prevent these bites from destroying the furniture in the home and everything else that comes to mind, we recommend you buy cat toys made of rubber or a soft plasticso you can chew them all you want.
Remove any valuable object from the cat's reach, or that could cause damage if it bites it, offer it the toy and reward it with caresses when it takes it so that it interprets that this is the object it should bite.
Also, moisten the food you give him, as solids will be difficult for him to chew; you can also substitute their dry food for canned temporarily.
Check the following article and discover the most recommended toys Ideal toys for small cats.
Characteristics of permanent teeth in cats
As we have already mentioned, cats change their milk teeth for permanent ones around 6 or 7 months These pieces are what the cat will have the rest of his life, so many experts recommend different methods to keep them in good condition and prevent diseases, such as brushing teeth or providing dry food formulated to care for teeth.
The final teeth are hard and resistant The largest size is achieved by the fangs, while the molars are more massive compared to the rest of the pieces. Annually it is recommended that you ask your veterinarian for a general check-up of your cat's teeth, so you can detect any problem or disease and treat it in time.
