Many owners of cats do not even try to look into the mouth of their pets and take care of the condition of their teeth. And completely in vain. After all, nature has determined the precise number and arrangement of teeth in the oral cavity, which animals enjoy throughout their life. So, with the help of teeth, the cat captures and retains food, dissects them with meat cartilages and bones, and also uses them for attack and protection. In addition, the teeth for a cat are the best weapon in the fight against fleas - animals gnaw out jumping parasites from the wool. But in the absence of teeth, a live flea can enter the intestine and cause a helminthic invasion.
Do the teeth grow in cats?
The process of jaw formation in fuzzy is much more active than in humans. Without teeth, the kitten lives only two to four weeks from birth. And then a very vigorous growth of teeth begins. The sequence of their eruption roughly corresponds to the order of growth of teeth in children: the first appear incisors, then canines, premolars (premolars) and root. In total, by the age of three months, the kitten has 26 spiky baby teeth (14 on top and 12 from below), which almost immediately begin to change approximately in the same sequence. During this period, you should carefully consider the diet of the kitten. It should receive food containing calcium, phosphorus and other minerals that contribute to the growth and preservation of healthy teeth.
How many teeth does an adult cat have?
If there were no deviations or injuries in the development, then the number of teeth in the cat by the half-year should be 30 pieces. That is, four molars are added to the changed milk teeth. The order and timing of their eruption are approximately as follows:
- incisors grow from three to six months;
- Fangs and premolars should erupt at the age of 4-5 months;
- to the half-year, the latest, there are permanent molars.
Thus, at six months of age, the kitten should be fully formed jaw. But changes in the oral cavity occur throughout the life of the cat. They have nothing to do with diseases or developmental disabilities, and they have a fairly clear scheme, from which one can judge the age of the animal.
Determining the age of the cat in the teeth
Felinologists have developed a special technique for determining the age of a cat, depending on the condition of the teeth. Of course, in the period of teething and changing teeth in small kittens is easy to do. But how do you know how old the cat is if all the permanent teeth have already erupted? The age is determined by the degree of erasure of the incisors and canines of the pet throughout his life:
- in a year and a half, central incisors are erased in cats, located on the lower jaw;
- for two and a half years, the middle incisors of the lower jaw are erased;
- a year later, the upper central incisors are erased;
- the middle incisors of the upper jaw are erased by 4.5 years;
- By the age of five, there are traces of erasure on fangs;
- in six years, traces of erasure appear on the extreme incisors of the upper jaw;
- in 7 years, the transversely oval rubbing surface of the central, in 8 years - middle incisors of the lower jaw is subjected to changes, and at 9 years - the central incisors of the upper jaw;
- at the age of 10-12 years, cats fall out of the central incisors;
- from 12 to 15 years all the incisors fall out.
The owners of cats who have children can imagine how painful the period of jaw formation can be. However, unlike a person, this process practically does not cause any anxiety to animals. An exception can only be the situation when the permanent tooth begins to erupt even before the dairy. This can lead to injury to the jaw, soft tissue damage or malocclusion. Therefore, if such a problem arises, you should contact the veterinarian.