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The kitten season has begun, and we asked ourselves the question :
do cats have milk teeth ?
Kittens are born without teeth, and all the momcats on Earth thank heaven for that to happen.
How does kitten dentition develop ?
At about two weeks of life, milk teeth appear, and at about six weeks, the kitten should have a complete dentition of 26 teeth.
Between the fourth and the fifth month, the kittens lose their milk teeth, and these are replaced by the definitive teeth : at first incisors, then canines, then premolars, and finally molars. Most of the time, the kitten swallows the teeth he’s losing.
Claire was very lucky with our angels Loupi and Céleste : she was several time present when they lost a tooth, and she was so able to play the Tooth Fairy (who said she doesn’t exist ?!?).
At what age does my cat have all his teeth then ?
From six months, the kitten possesses his thirty grown-up teeth :
– 12 incisors
– 4 canine (fangs)
– 10 premolars
– 4 molars
Check regularly your cat’s dentition : a tooth or gum problem aches. It can lead to digestive disorders or to refusal to eat.
Have your human once found your milk teeth ?
My mom saved a couple of my baby teeth!
Mum did not get us when we were babies.
The only teeth she has are from extractions.
We are mostly senior cats.
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure and JJ
My human has always wanted the milk teeth of the cats she had from kittenhood but it has never happened. Once she saw when there were double fangs – the adult fangs growing behind the baby ones – but she did not get to find the lost baby ones.
Way back when, when my aunties Primrose, Snowdrop and Blossom were born which was in the last century – LITERALLY! – Peep #1 said she found three of their baby teeth. Three. Three teeth for three cats. They’re super small. Doctor told her they sometimes get swallowed.
Purrs,
Seville
Yes, we would say they often get swallowed. Your peep is lucky ! Purrs
We were both 6 months old rescues (the RSPCA took over a hundred cats from one property) . After a few months Hannah had problems with her teeth and was taken to our vet for a dental check. They kept her over night as they had they had to remove nearly all her teeth before she was allowed home the next day (when Lucy met her by hissing at the vet smell). Since then any of Hannah’s few remaining teeth dropped out without the vet’s help! (She eats well and always has freshly cooked chicken for her lunch!!)
Angel Isis had very bad teeth too, but healthy gums. At 3-4 years old she only had her fangs left, but could eat without problem. Purrs
the mama saved one of my milk teeth and thought she can cover it with gold or silver for wearing it on a chain (yes, humans have crazy ideas) … sadly my dad saw the little box for trash, threw it away and ruined her dream. therefore she has noe necklace with an easy-tooth and my dad gets a place in hades far away from her, because that was UNforgivable :o)
OMC ! We wouldn’t have wanted to be in place of your dad ! We bet the sky was falling (on his head !), and your mom throwing some lightning bolts ! Purrs
The mom has a couple of my baby teeth. She saves them in a box. 🙂 The cat before me didn’t lose his baby fang teeth before his adult ones came in and it looked like he had double fangs. Vampire cat! ~Wally
pixie N zorro….sad lee noe teeth waz finded heer coz three of uz waz older when we were adopted; gram paw dude & miss D were wee small but noe teeth were ever found….this was a grate post two day bye de way !!! happee week a head two ewe both ♥♥♥
My mum says that me and Eric looked like two little sharks with two rows of teeth because we had our adult teeth before we lost any milk teeth. When we started to lose them she kept finding them around our cat tree and toy box where we kept chewing it. She never thought to keep them though.
Very cool! Our mom has managed to find only two of our milk teeth that we’ve lost between us.
None of us came here as kittens either so we missed the Tooth Fairy thing!
Swallowed! So that’s where they went…
Noodle and crew
Mommy has a bottle that has the milk teeths from her before cats, Sylvester, Genghis, Attilla and my Hissy Old Licorice, wes also gots 2 of Kozmo’s and one of Jo Jo’s!
Mommy says she was extra lucky to gets them, and that she had to asks them all very nicely so that they would not eats them or loose them where she could not finds them.
Kisses
Nellie
Never found a milk teeth and I would love to have found one! When I adopted Mr. Cat he was about 6 months old and already had his definitive teeth.
Very interesting.
Great posty. Mommy has a tooth jar with our teethies in it.
Luv ya’
Dezi
We THOUGHT we had some teeth we lost as kittens, but it is hard ta remember!
We did not know this!
xo
Woofs from a dog.
Toots
I was lucky to find a few of my first kitty’s (Felix) baby teeth. I never found any from Smokey and the other kitties were adults when I adopted them.
that is one impressive collection of teeth! I only ever saw one tooth fall out and that happened because I was playing roughly with my cat at the time and I thought I had hurt him.
Kittens who have improper nutrition at the critical stage of growing adult teeth are more likely to have dental issues as adults.
Jan has never found any of our teeth. She thinks it’s been a conspiracy since she has had some of her cats from when they were young.
I have never had a kitten young enough to still have their milk teeth. Thank you for the kind words you left for us on our blog about Spooky. XO
Mom remembers finding a milk tooth or two over the years but has no idea what she’s done with them. This was a very interesting post. Thanks! XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
I may or may not have my dog’s puppy teeth in an old film canister. I admit to nothing weird. MOL! MOL!
Mum would have loved to have kept my milk teeth!
Purrs xx
Athena
Granny has her Angel’s milk teeth still and also the milky ones of her doggie. She saved them all 🙂 Pawkisses 🙂 <3
I’ve never found teeth from my kittens. Thanks for the helpful post!
We have never found the baby teeth of our cats (well Mitalee was full grown when she came to live with us) or any baby teeth from our dogs but we have found three of Wilhelmina’s baby teeth! Our Mama has them in a bottle with her other pet keepsakes. 🙂 Amazing that Claire has found some from her kitties! 🙂
the critters in the cottage xo
Today morning,I was playing with my 5 month old cat,somehow i opened his mouth and suddenly his one teeth broked,I was so scared cause i didn’t think i hit his teeth and broke it.And noticed his same another teeth is missing from other side.I also checked his 2 other brothers and saw one’s two tooth is ok and other one’s one teeth is missing.I was curious and try to google it and found this.Hopefully maybe it was his milk teeth.