Cats and their teeth

Information about cat teeth 

As each kitten is born the Queen (mother cat) cuts away the umbilical cord with her teeth.

A kittens teeth develop and can be painful for the Queen during suckling. To aid the weaning process, the Queen eventually starts to bring captured prey back to the nest for the kittens to eat.

Types of teeth

Cats have canine teeth which are long and enable them to kill prey quickly. There are mechanoreceptors in the teeth (neural receptors detect pressure and vibration). These allow the cat to decifer where the bite to kill the prey should occur. 

Do cats teethe?

Yes, they have deciduous teeth meaning that they have baby teeth that fall out and are replaced with adult teeth. They are born without teeth initially and these grow so they experience the teething process twice.

At around 11 weeks a cats teeth start to fall out and around 4 months adult teeth start to grow.

Play

Don’t encourage your cat to play with your hands and feet. It may be endearing when they are younger but practicing grabbing with teeth can be painful especially as the cat gets older. As the cats get older their teeth become stronger and they physically are bigger.

 Don’t tell your cat off if they take hold of your hands or feet as this can result in aggression.

How can you help your kitten when they are teething

• Wet food will be softer on gums and teeth compared to hard kibble.

• There face may be uncomfortable so be mindful of this and gentle.

• Some cats may want to chew more so allowing them to do this on appropriate toys will help them.

•  A kitten may paw inside their mouth if they have a loose tooth.

•  You may find teeth around the home.

References

 Practical Feline Behaviour. R Tomunen.