When Do Kittens Lose Teeth

Eldredge dvm who practices in the utica new york area.

When do kittens lose teeth. Most cat owners won t even notice a kitten has lost his tooth it is often lost in the home or swallowed. Teething durations can vary but typically kittens lose teeth between 3 and 9 months old. Most kittens lose their baby teeth between the ages of 6 and 9 months. Kittens begin to lose their baby teeth around 3 4 months of age to make room for the larger adult or permanent teeth.

Around 4 7 months of age permanent adult teeth will start replacing the baby teeth. By the time a kitten is about six to seven months old the adult teeth should be in. Sometimes the kitten teeth fail to fall out and it continues to occupy space where only the adult teeth should be. Just like with human children the timeline for losing kitten teeth is pretty flexible.

Long before their first birthday your growing kitten should have 30 permanent teeth. Around the time the baby teeth fall out at 3 4 months. Kittens get teeth at about 2 weeks of age when the first tiny incisors appear right in the front of the mouth says deb m. This means that kittens teeth twice in their lives once for their set of 26 baby teeth and again with their 30 adult teeth.

Retained deciduous teeth should be surgically extracted once they are discovered to avoid dental problems. Some kittens may lose their baby teeth earlier and some may lag behind a bit. This is the time when the second phase of teething begins. They may chew on items more frequently to counter the discomfort they feel of emerging or loosening teeth.

Their first baby teeth appear when they are around 2 4 weeks of age. This happens just a few weeks after the baby teeth have erupted at the age of three to four months. 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. A few weeks later or as early as 3 months old these baby or milk teeth may start coming out as adult teeth start growing in.

By this time the majority of the permanent teeth should have erupted provided there are no complications. Cats begin losing their baby teeth at around 12 weeks or 3 months. When deciduous kitten teeth don t fall out to make way for the permanent teeth they are called retained deciduous 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.

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. As with most mammals in the animal kingdom kittens are born toothless while their diet is mom s milk or a tasty bottle of formula. 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. You may never even see the teeth as your kitten loses them as they are often lost during mealtime or through play.