# Cat Teeth **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148 "2009-05-03T03:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![goddessodd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@goddessodd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goddessodd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/1 "2009-05-03T03:26:36Z")
I guess it is true that I have become a cat lady…I foster kittens and cats for a couple of local rescue groups, and I have at least a dozen cats of all ages at any given time. During my time as a foster, I have raised dozens and dozens of kittens from just weaned to adulthood, and that means that a lot of kittens have lost their milk teeth and gotten their adult teeth in my house. I realized tonight that not only have I never seen a cat tooth laying around or stuck in a cat toy, but I have never noticed a cat missing any teeth. Is the feline equivalent of the tooth fairy just that efficient, or what? Where did the teeth go? Did they swallow them? How long does it take for a cat tooth to fully erupt? GoddessOdd ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_Next\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/2 "2009-05-03T03:28:38Z")
Hmm. I used to find my dog’s baby teeth lying around, but never my cats’. ---
**Author:** ![goddessodd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@goddessodd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goddessodd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/3 "2009-05-03T03:31:37Z")
Just so. Puppy teeth are larger, so that explains part of it, but even a tiny kitten has pretty functional canines…certainly large enough that I would see one if it were laying about. Also, I have never seen a cat missing a canine. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/4 "2009-05-03T04:41:05Z")
Yes, you normally don’t see any kitty teeth laying around because they usually just swallow them. As for never seeing them missing canines, it’s probably just luck of the draw. Cause really, how often do you closely examine a kitty’s mouth? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/5 "2009-05-03T06:09:51Z")
And why aren’t their canines called felines? ---
**Author:** ![goddessodd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@goddessodd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goddessodd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/6 "2009-05-03T06:47:30Z")
A question I asked my vet. Her reply…“the same reason we don’t call yours ‘humans’…those teeth are canines regardless of species” ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/7 "2009-05-03T08:37:04Z")
I used to step on my cat’s milk teeth. Those suckers were sharp. I like it when kittens don’t lose their milk teeth but the adult teeth start to grow in. For a couple of weeks they got a really cool “Shark teeth” thing going on. What’s really weird is sometimes the kitten’s milk teeth come out in pairs and it looks like a bridge. Of course then the kitten usually has a gap tooth for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/8 "2009-05-03T13:06:13Z")
I found one case where the cat had a tooth “sheathed” over another one. The outer tooth was ready to fall out (and in fact I took it out). When I removed it, the underlying tooth was already protruding, ready for use. I kept it for 15 years, and just threw it out about 3 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/9 "2009-05-03T23:29:43Z")
I found a few of my cat’s milk teeth. Once he was sitting on my lap grooming himself and a tooth fell out right onto his fur. As for why we don’t notice gap teeth- well, cats don’t open their mouths wide that often. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-teeth/495148/10 "2009-05-04T01:20:51Z")
The point I was trying to make, was that there never is a gap. THe replacement tooth is nearly completely erupted and very visible by the time the milk tooth falls out.