Kitten teething: Lost tooth, bleeding gums. Is it normal? What to do?

I am sorry to hear about your concerns!!! It sounds like your kitten is of the age when it is getting its final adult teeth (usually 6-7 months) so it is possible your kitty is just losing her baby teeth. When kittens are teething sometimes they do have a bad breath/odor while they are teething. When the teeth fall out we can have some bleeding at the gums as well. If the bleeding was prolonged, your kitty is having trouble eating or is lethargic or pawing at her mouth, I would recommend an exam by the vet to look at the oral cavity to ensure there aren't any signs of infection, a foreign body stuck in the gums, or ulceration. Best of luck to you and Nala!

That is a little biot more blood than I would like to see. Very carefully open your kitty's mouth and check the gums, teeth and tongue. There may be ulcers or an injury or he has a tooth that is meant to come out but stuck at a funny angle. If so your kitty needs to be seen by a veterinarian for an exam. If there are no wounds other than where he lost a tooth, then there is nothing you need to do and the bleeding and discomfort should go away soon.

Teething causes a cat to bite things so the deciduous tooth can fall out. Once such a tooth falls out, it bleeds. So this is likely normal. Kittens also need play fighting to get muscles, strength and coordination. That said. you can throw lots of paper balls for her to chase, make a toy out of a stick with a long string and tie a few feathers at the end of the string. Play with her often until she is tired. Never tussle with your hands. If she attacks your legs, gently take her off and distract her. She will climb curtains and you , and that is part of learning and normal. Do not punish her, because she will not understand. All this will get less over time.

You can typically age kittens by weight. They should gain about 1 pound per month. They start losing teeth around 12 weeks of age and permanent teeth should be fully in place by 6 to 9 months. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

No there is nothing specific to be done, at this age cats loose their baby teeth and it can happen that the appetite is affected very shortly. try to offer him wet kitten food, he may have pain trying to eat dry food.

Poor kitty. Do a really good check of kitties mouth and see if you can identify the source of the bleeding. If it is coming from the tongue and if it has stopped bleeding for the most part, but only starts again after kitten eats, then this may be manageable at home. Get kitty a pet friendly oral rinse from your local pet store and flush the mouth daily to keep things from getting infected. Then I would make sure that kitty eats soft canned food only to avoid friction on the tongue and hopefully keep the bleeding episodes to a minimal. The tongue heals relatively quickly in most cases (within a few days), so anything beyond that would concern me that there is potentially another source of the bleeding, at which point it may be best to have kitty seen by your vet for a thorough exam.

Jasper will be losing his baby teeth for about another 6 weeks (until he is 6 months old). His adult teeth are currently pushing out his baby teeth, so his gums are more sensitive and easier to bleed right now. If the bleeding continues after his adult teeth are all in, I would certainly recommend having your veterinarian examine his gums to make sure they are healthy. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.