Older cat - mouth oddity

I live with an older cat (she just had her tenth birthday). She eats mostly dry food and we have always admired how lovely and white her teeth are and how her gums are in great shape too.

Over the last three weeks or so my housemates have noticed that one side of her mouth, right by her right fang, has gone a little bald and the tip of the fang now seems to touch her bottom lip when her mouth is closed.

If I didn't know better, I would wonder if her tooth was still growing (rodent style) but I don't think that can be it.

Does anyone have any ideas, thoughts or insight in to cat dentistry? I have opened her mouth and can see that the gums are still all the right healthy colour, there is no evidence of pain or discomfort and she still eats well.

Is she literally now "long in tooth"?

Is there a potential problem that we can address early?

I'm just not sure.


Wishing everyone a pleasant day =D

If one canine is suddenly longer than the other that suggests that something is pushing that tooth out. All you can do is get her to a vet next week for a check up,

May I ask what sort of thing? Like an abscess? And I have to think that dental xray would mean a general anaesthetic, does that sound right?

Bless her, she has gone back to sleep so I'll leave her be for now but that's a nice idea to compare the left and right fangs for comparable length. I should have thought of that.

Her mouth is otherwise just really good, she doesn't even have cat breath.

Abscess/infection, root dying, tumor growth, etc. Only a vet could check. And yes, it would mean she'd go under general or at least need to be sedated.

All of my cats' upper fangs touch their bottom lips, and there is an indentation there where the teeth sit. I thought that was normal?

Originally Posted by Nekochan

All of my cats' upper fangs touch their bottom lips, and there is an indentation there where the teeth sit. I thought that was normal?

Click to expand...

Yes, that's normal. Length suddenly changing in one tooth isn't.