Title: How Do Vets Determine the Age of a Puppy or Kitten?
Headings: How Vets Determine a Puppy or Kitten's Age
How Vets Determine a Puppy or Kitten's Age
Emerging Puppy Teeth
Tricks for Kittens
When Teeth Don't Tell the Whole Story
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Content: So if a vet looks in the puppy's mouth sometime before 8 weeks of age, she's likely to be able to get a pretty good idea of how old the puppy is when she sees which teeth have erupted so far, says Casal. “Where it gets a little tricky sometimes in dogs is between 8 and 16 weeks. Once you’ve got all your deciduous teeth, nothing really happens overtly for those two months from 8 weeks to 16 weeks ,” Casal says. “ But you can generally look at the overall state of the puppy and say, ‘Is it close to teething or has it just developed its deciduous teeth?’ There’s a gray area somewhere in between.” Once puppies reach 16 to 18 weeks of age they’re starting to get their first set of grown-up teeth: all of their 12 incisors, one set of four premolars and one set of four molars. Then from 20 to 24 weeks, they’ll get their four adult canines, three more sets of premolars and one more set of molars. Finally, at 24 to 28 weeks, their final set of two permanent molars erupts, only on the bottom. Overall, looking at a young dog’s teeth is a great way to tell his age — at least “in the absence of disease,” Casal says. “