Is this normal??

[moosmom]

I was sitting on the couch with Shortie in my lap. I happened to notice that one of her top canine (top "fang") teeth was missing.

It doesn't seem to bother her. I'm a little concerned that the gum where the tooth was a little irritated. She's only 11 years old. Do cats start losing teeth at any certain age? I've never had any of my other cats lose major teeth.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[moosmom]

Just got off the phone with the vet and he said that an older cat losing teeth is common. As long as the gums aren't red, inflammed, and she's eating, they told me to just keep an eye on it.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

check it daily to make sure no food gets in the socket if it is still open. If it's healed over no biggie. Havoc had a tooth pulled and it ended up getting infected cuz he kept gettin' food stuck in there.

I was looking at Toby's mouth the other day and noticed that half of his upper incisors (the little tiny ones between the pointy teeth) were missing. He only had the ones on the left side. Gums were smooth and pretty. Now I'm wondering if he ever had those teeth to begin with. I don't recall him missing any when I got him but I don't know that I even looked at them.

[Karen]

Maybe this thread should be a reminder for everyone with senior kitties to check their teeth every now and then, just in case!

[GILL]

We have several older cats and they do lose teeth. Diabetic ones will lose teeth earlier. Our Patch lost hers at about 8-9 it did not slow her eating down and she lived to 16.
Just keep an eye on them to make sure there are no infections.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, I'd say it's pretty normal for older cats. When Storm went in for his last dental cleaning, they found that he'd lost several of his small teeth. I didn't even notice this. Hopefully she'll be okay.

[katladyd]

I've just recently had Ming's teeth checked and the vet said they were perfect for a cat 7-years-old. I haven't checked Mac's in a while, but he's probably going in to the vet's next week for a checkup anyway, so I will have his teeth checked then.

[moosmom]

Her gums were fine, pink and healthy. Great, one more thing to worry about. sigh*

[TommyCat]

Hi Moosmom,
My girl kitty is 11 years old, and she's had two dentals recently. She's also in remission from feline diabetes. Over a year ago she had what the Vet called feline resorbtive lesions where the teeth lose structure, and she had several teeth extracted. Sometimes not all the tooth falls out - I'm not too good at explaining, but here's a good link explaining it. This was the first I've heard of this happening in older cats. I hope Shortie is doing better.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2121&aid=380

[moosmom]

Thanks for the link and good wishes, TC. I checked it out. It's common in purebred cats and siamese and aby cats.

Shortie is a purebred Munchkin, rescued from a bad breeder who kept her in a cage for the first year of her life. That just about explains it.

[TommyCat]

That is interesting about it being common in breeds. My kitty is a Manx mix breed. My other kitty that crossed the Rainbow Bridge also had a lot of problems with his teeth, and he was a beautiful Siamese Flamepoint mix.

[Donnaj4962]

MoosMom, my RB Tabitha lost one of her incisors when she was about 15. I found it laying on the carpet one day! My vet also told me to keep an eye out for infection. Years went by and nothing. Then one day she woke up and her widdle face was swollen. Off to the vet we went and they found she had an infection. Tabby being the stubborn cat refused to open her mouth for the vet so they couldn't tell if the infection was in the spot where the tooth was missing. But they gave me some amtibiotics for her and she was better within a week.

So I guess what I am saying is to always keep an eye on it. By the way, Tabby lived to be 21 (2 months shy of 22!) so the infection seemed to not have affected her health all that much!

Kissies for all of your babies!

[Catlady711]

I know that dental problems can be hereditery to some extent. My Jack had to have his first dental done at 1 1/2 years old! Although after that he didn't need another one until he was about 5, and seems he needs them done about every 2-3 years. My Dusty on the other hand didn't get her first dental done until she was 13 years old, had one more at about 14 years old, and still had all her teeth when she passed at 17 yrs old.

[Barbara]

Filou lost one of his fangs when he was 2-3 years old. We didn't even notice and when we brought him to the vet she said it was not broken, nothing was left of it. It just happened and gave him kind of an oblique smile
It didn't bother him at all.
So I hope Shortie will just be fine.