How long does a cat teethe?

dara678

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hey all! mochi goes through cycles of being cranky and biting everything all the time (i'm pretty sure he is teething) and being super super lovey-dovey and nice. he's now eight months old, which is getting pretty old .... how long does a cat usually take to grow all of his teeth?
 

februa

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Usually the baby teeth have been replaced by permanent teeth by 30 weeks of age. What makes you certain he is teething? The behaviour could indicate something else (cat expert ideas???).
It is possible that a deciduous tooth didnt fall out when replaced by a permanent tooth. Sometimes they need to have the extra tooth removed. This happend with both Manytoes' upper canines (the big fangs!), and right when the vet was about to take them out (I swear 2 days before) because of crowding, they were suddenly gone. I think he knew what was coming and shed them before it could happen...boy did he look funny with his 4 fangs. I thought of calling him Manyteeth for awhile...
 

zak&rocky

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I have a two year old who STILL chews on stuff. I think it's b/c his sense of smell is bad due to his chronic herpes, so he likes to taste stuff. I think 8 months is a kind of bitey age. If it continues i would have him see a vet.
 

ldg

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Your kitty should be past teething problems, unless as Februa mentioned he's got teeth he didn't shed despite having his adult teeth in.

The most important thing is to not let him be bitey with you. If he nips at you, immediately stop whatever you're doing with him. Give him a short sharp puff of air in the face and walk away. He'll catch on quickly that biting is not a way to get your attention, and the puff of air in his face will startle him but not scare or anger him.

You may want to consider dropping lots of bendy straws around. This helped all our kitties get through the "bitey" stage. They're apparently lots of fun to chew on, but they're a kind of plastic they can't chew through before you see the straw is starting to come apart, so it's no danger to them.
 
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