This is a way of obtaining further information about smells, for example, an intact male Tom cat smelling a female cat’s urine and learning that she is in heat. They are using their vomeronasal organ to smell and sense the air. If you see your cat smell something, and then open their mouth slightly and keep it open for a few seconds, this is called the Flehmen Reaction. It helps cats sense pheromones and analyze smells. This organ is located on the roof of their mouth (hard palate) and connects to the oral and nasal passages. The anatomy of a cat’s tongue is different in that it has a rough texture that aids in grooming and scraping meat off bones.Ĭats have an organ called the vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson’s organ. Cats also use their tongues to pick up small pieces of food and to drink water by lapping it up. These glands are essential in beginning the process of digestion, by secreting saliva which contains enzymes to breakdown food when it’s consumed.Ī cat’s tongue will guide the food to the back of the mouth to be swallowed, just like a person’s. Just like people and dogs, cats have salivary glands. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to cause issues. It’s thought that many deciduous teeth end up accidentally being swallowed. When do cats get their adult teeth?īetween 3.5-6 months of age, you may notice your kitten missing a tooth, find a tooth on the floor, or even stuck in a toy. The back teeth, premolars and molars, are larger and wider for chewing and grinding meat into smaller pieces. Cats are obligate carnivores, hence the long, pointed canine teeth have evolved for grabbing and tearing meat. The front teeth consist of 12 incisors and 4 canines. There are 26 of these “baby teeth”, which will be pushed out by erupting permanent “adult” teeth at 5-7 months old. At 3.5 months old, a kitten’s deciduous teeth begin to erupt.

Cat teeth diagram