My kitty Zeus has a rather long story, so you will have to forgive me for the length of this message, I feel his background could have something to do with his current lack of teeth.
His mother showed up at my dad's house out in the country in April of last year. Two weeks later, she had 4 kittens (2 orange males, 1 brown tabby male, 1 black female) out on the screened porch.
Mama Kitty (as she is now called) proved to be an excellent mother, and my dad (who at the time was not living at that house full time) let her live out on the screened porch and raise the kittens. The handyman who was working on the house provided food and water for her, and the screens protected the kittens from the neighbors dogs.
Everything was going fine until the kittens were about 10 weeks old, when the brown tabby dissappeared. By this time, the kittens were starting to leave the porch, and we presumed he had been caught by something and was dead. But lo and behold, 3 weeks later, a very skinny, very very shy brown tabby kitten showed back up.
I happened to be visiting my dad right when the kitten returned, and was appalled when I saw him. Honestly, I thought that he was going to need to be put down. It took me 2 hours to corner him and catch him. He was livid with me for it. I took him in to the vet, and they kept him overnight for observation. They determined there was nothing immediately wrong with him and I took him home.
After 3 days under my bed hissing any time he saw me, he came around, and turned literally in a matter of hours into the sweetest cat I've ever met. From the time I caught him onwards, he has been well fed, with a combination of wet and dry kitten food.
He has always been very happy and playful, but his coat has never recovered. At about 6 months old, he started losing his teeth on the bottom, and I didn't think all that much of it, presuming adult teeth would come in. But they never have. He is now 9 months old, and shows no signs of having any adult teeth to come in. His mother and siblings all have normal sets of teeth (as far as I have been able to observe).
He has been tested for FLV and FIV, treated for worms, recieved his rabies, FLV and kitten vaccines, and been fixed. The vet has no explanation for the lack of teeth, he says he has never seen this before in such a young cat.
Is this really that rare? Has anyone else had any kind of experience with something like this? He only has a very few teeth left (4-5, he doesnt people looking), but it does not seem to slow him down eating. Do I need to keep him on wet food only?
I would like to mention he is now an indoor only kitty, so this is not an issue for him going outside, but is it going to be a problem for him if I get other cats?
His mother showed up at my dad's house out in the country in April of last year. Two weeks later, she had 4 kittens (2 orange males, 1 brown tabby male, 1 black female) out on the screened porch.
Mama Kitty (as she is now called) proved to be an excellent mother, and my dad (who at the time was not living at that house full time) let her live out on the screened porch and raise the kittens. The handyman who was working on the house provided food and water for her, and the screens protected the kittens from the neighbors dogs.
Everything was going fine until the kittens were about 10 weeks old, when the brown tabby dissappeared. By this time, the kittens were starting to leave the porch, and we presumed he had been caught by something and was dead. But lo and behold, 3 weeks later, a very skinny, very very shy brown tabby kitten showed back up.
I happened to be visiting my dad right when the kitten returned, and was appalled when I saw him. Honestly, I thought that he was going to need to be put down. It took me 2 hours to corner him and catch him. He was livid with me for it. I took him in to the vet, and they kept him overnight for observation. They determined there was nothing immediately wrong with him and I took him home.
After 3 days under my bed hissing any time he saw me, he came around, and turned literally in a matter of hours into the sweetest cat I've ever met. From the time I caught him onwards, he has been well fed, with a combination of wet and dry kitten food.
He has always been very happy and playful, but his coat has never recovered. At about 6 months old, he started losing his teeth on the bottom, and I didn't think all that much of it, presuming adult teeth would come in. But they never have. He is now 9 months old, and shows no signs of having any adult teeth to come in. His mother and siblings all have normal sets of teeth (as far as I have been able to observe).
He has been tested for FLV and FIV, treated for worms, recieved his rabies, FLV and kitten vaccines, and been fixed. The vet has no explanation for the lack of teeth, he says he has never seen this before in such a young cat.
Is this really that rare? Has anyone else had any kind of experience with something like this? He only has a very few teeth left (4-5, he doesnt people looking), but it does not seem to slow him down eating. Do I need to keep him on wet food only?
I would like to mention he is now an indoor only kitty, so this is not an issue for him going outside, but is it going to be a problem for him if I get other cats?
