Kittens teethe twice. Their baby teeth come through at roughly 2 to 6 weeks old, and their adult teeth push those out between about 3 and 7 months. The second round is the one most new owners notice: more chewing, more nipping, maybe a tiny tooth on the carpet or a spot of blood on a toy. Almost all of it is normal, and a few simple things make it easier on both of you.
When do kittens teethe? A rough timeline
Kittens are born without teeth. Dental references such as the Merck Veterinary Manual and the American Veterinary Dental College give these approximate ages, and individual kittens vary by a week or two either way:
- 2–4 weeks: baby (deciduous) incisors appear, followed by the baby canines
- 3–6 weeks: baby premolars appear. That completes a set of 26 baby teeth. Kittens have no baby molars.
- About 3½–4 months: adult incisors start to push the baby ones out
- About 4–5 months: adult canines (the fangs) and molars come in
- About 4–6 months: adult premolars arrive
- By around 6–7 months: the full adult set of 30 teeth should be in place
Because the timing is fairly predictable, teeth are one of the main clues vets use to estimate a young kitten’s age. If you’re not sure how old yours is, our guide on how to estimate a kitten’s age uses the same milestones.
Signs your kitten is teething
The adult-tooth phase (roughly 3 to 7 months) is when you’ll see most of these:
- Chewing on everything: cords, shoelaces, cardboard, your fingers
- More biting during play, sometimes with a bit more force than before
- Slightly red gums along the tooth line
- A tiny spot of blood on a toy or food bowl
- Finding a baby tooth. Most get swallowed with food, which is harmless, so don’t worry if you never find one.
- Briefly eating a little less or chewing more carefully, especially with dry food
What’s not typical of teething: refusing food entirely, heavy drooling, a bad smell from the mouth, a swollen face, or a kitten who seems flat and unwell. Those are reasons to call the vet (more below).
How to help a teething kitten
You can’t speed teething up, but you can make it more comfortable and steer the chewing somewhere safe.
Give them something good to chew. Soft rubber chew toys made for kittens, fabric kicker toys and dental chew toys all work. Some vets suggest a damp washcloth chilled in the fridge (not frozen solid) for a short supervised chew. Swap toys every few days to keep them interesting.
Make the dangerous stuff boring or unavailable. Teething kittens are at their most chewy at the same age they’re most curious. Tidy away phone chargers, hair ties, rubber bands, string and ribbon. Linear objects like string are a classic cause of intestinal blockages. Our list of unsafe cat toys covers the main offenders, and our kitten-proofing checklist goes room by room.
Keep hands out of play. If your kitten is gnawing on your fingers, redirect to a toy every single time, and use wand toys so there’s distance between teeth and skin. It’s much easier to set this habit at four months than to undo it at four years. Our guide to kitten biting and scratching explains how.
Offer wet food if they seem sore. If your kitten is picking at kibble, a few days of more wet food, or kibble softened with a little warm water, is fine.
Skip human teething products. Don’t use baby teething gels. Many contain benzocaine, a local anaesthetic that can cause a dangerous blood disorder (methemoglobinemia) in cats. And don’t give any human pain reliever, even a small piece of one. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are toxic to cats.
Use teething season to start tooth care
This is the best time to get your kitten used to having their mouth handled, before it becomes a fight. The American Animal Hospital Association’s 2019 Dental Care Guidelines recommend daily tooth brushing as the most effective home care for cats, and adult cats are far more likely to accept it if they learned it young.
Keep it gentle while gums are sore:
- Start by lifting the lip and touching the outside of the teeth for a second, then reward.
- Over a week or two, move to a fingertip with a dab of cat toothpaste (never human toothpaste, which isn’t meant to be swallowed).
- Once the adult teeth are in, introduce a soft cat toothbrush.
Our full guide to brushing your cat’s teeth takes it from there.
Retained baby teeth: the one thing to check
Sometimes a baby tooth doesn’t fall out, and the adult tooth comes in right beside it. Vets call this a persistent or retained deciduous tooth. It’s most common with the canines, so you may see what looks like a double fang.
It matters because the leftover tooth can push the adult tooth out of position and trap food and plaque between them. The American Veterinary Dental College’s position is that a baby tooth still in place when its adult replacement has erupted should be removed promptly, usually under the same anaesthetic as spay or neuter surgery if timing allows. So if you spot a double fang, mention it to your vet. Don’t try to pull it yourself; the roots are long and fragile.
When to see a vet
Call your vet if your kitten has any of these during teething:
- Not eating for more than 24 hours, or eating very little over a couple of days
- Heavy drooling, pawing at the mouth, or a bad smell from the mouth
- Very red, swollen or bleeding gums, beyond the odd spot on a toy
- A swollen face or jaw
- A broken tooth, especially one with a pink or dark spot in the centre
- Baby teeth still present alongside adult teeth, or any baby teeth left at around 7 months
- Lethargy, fever or vomiting. These aren’t caused by teething and need checking.
A small number of kittens develop severe gum inflammation as their adult teeth come through, sometimes called juvenile gingivitis. It’s reported more often in some breeds, including Siamese, Abyssinians, Persians and Maine Coons, and it needs a vet’s treatment rather than waiting it out. Teething is also a good thing to ask about at your kitten’s routine check-ups. Here’s what to expect at your new cat’s first vet visit if you haven’t been yet.
The bottom line
Kitten teething is normal, temporary and mostly done by seven months. Give your kitten safe things to chew, keep cords and string out of reach, never let hands become toys, and use these months to get them used to tooth brushing. Keep an eye out for double fangs and anything that stops them eating, and let your vet handle the rest.
What’s the strangest thing your kitten chewed during teething?