Can Kittens Lose Teeth
Kittens have a total of 26 deciduous teeth.
Can kittens lose teeth. Kittens do bleed when they lose teeth but only a little and it will stop on its own dr. Sometimes the kitten teeth fail to fall out and it continues to occupy space where only the adult teeth should be. When deciduous kitten teeth don t fall out to make way for the permanent teeth they are called retained deciduous teeth. To put it simply a pet that loses its kitten s teeth might need to undergo surgery.
These sharp translucent teeth are not permanent in fact the kitten will begin. Much like young humans kittens have baby teeth or milk teeth that begin to emerge at about three weeks old. They have no molars. If you see your kitten losing teeth at around 12 weeks old don t worry it s normal.
This happens just a few weeks after the baby teeth have erupted at the age of three to four months. 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. Although the timing varies between animals as much as it does among humans the average kitten will have lost all her baby teeth by between 6 and 9 months old. Long before their first birthday your growing kitten should have 30 permanent teeth.
Kittens lose their teeth as a normal part of their development. As these teeth grow the mother may experience discomfort when nursing and start weaning the kittens. Cats begin losing their baby teeth at around 12 weeks or 3 months. This is the time when the second phase of teething begins.
And don t panic if you see your kitten s mouth bleeding a little bit dr. It can be brought about by various factors that include having eaten something that may cause tooth loss. Teeth can start coming in within a few weeks of birth. The deciduous teeth begin to fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth starting at around 11 weeks of age.
By this time the majority of the permanent teeth should have erupted provided there are no complications. Around 4 7 months of age permanent adult teeth will start replacing the baby teeth. Kittens lose these baby teeth shortly after their eruption as they are only the temporary deciduous teeth that are meant to be replaced with permanent adult set of teeth. By the time a kitten is about six to seven months old the adult teeth should be in.
You may never even see the teeth as your kitten loses them as they are often lost during mealtime or through play. If you are lucky you may find a tiny tooth. In fact this condition is known as bleeding in kittens.