Hi everyone, I’ve had a Persian kitten for a month now; he’s 3 months old and I bought him from a breeder. While going for his second set of vaccinations, my vet noticed that there is a misalignment in his jaw. I'm getting a lot of conflicting advice. My vet says there are three options: it might correct itself by the time he’s 6 months old, filing down his canines, or removing the canines altogether. The breeder’s vet says one minute that it’s normal and will sort itself out, and another time she’s implying that I’ve done something to the kitten myself. I really don’t know what to do. Thanks in advance for your help.
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It’s certainly true that you can judge an underbite much better once their adult teeth have come through, but if the vet has already spotted a misalignment, then there’s likely something to it, otherwise they wouldn’t have mentioned it. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t stop them from living a perfectly happy life at all, and it even gives them a bit of a quirky, cute look.
It’s a bit of a struggle trying to take photos on my own. I’ll keep you all posted in three months’ time, hoping it clears up by itself. Fingers crossed.
To check if a kitten has an underbite, you really need to take a photo from the front and another close-up profile shot. From these, you can’t see much besides his little teeth, which don't actually look that badly aligned to me; his top canines overlap the bottom ones, and it's only really an issue when it's the other way round. However, I think I can see a bit of a lateral shift on his bottom left canine.
I completely understand why you’re upset by the email from the breeder’s vet; I wouldn’t have been happy either. Did he actually accuse you of mistreatment too? I have a friend who had the exact same problem and got the same response from the breeder, who claimed she must have dropped the kitten. She wasn't exactly thrilled either and certainly didn't hold back when it came to giving the breeder a bit of "publicity" afterwards.
First of all, thank you so much for all your replies. I’ve got a follow-up appointment with the vet in three months to see how he’s getting on.
At the moment, he isn’t having any trouble eating, so I’m just keeping a close eye on him.
My Persian is a pet kitten and isn’t GCCF registered.
What I really didn’t appreciate was the breeder’s vet implying that I was the one who’d caused this—and they said it in an email as well, they didn’t even have the courtesy to call.
Thanks again everyone, your replies have really put my mind at ease as he means the world to me.
I assume your kitten has an underbite; it's a serious fault in Persians. If you bought him as a pet, you'll just have to live with it, otherwise you can hold the breeder accountable. It is absolutely not your fault that he is like that—how on earth could you have shifted his jaw yourself? It’s often just a rubbish excuse used by bad breeders to cover their own backs. As for the vet saying it’ll sort itself out, that’s just more nonsense; they’re probably just afraid of losing a client and don’t want to give you the bad news.
An underbite doesn’t fix itself; on the contrary, it becomes more pronounced. As for pulling his teeth, if it’s not bothering him, I don’t see the point. There will be plenty of time for that when he’s older if it actually starts causing issues.
I had a Persian with an underbite who was sold to me as "pet quality" for that very reason. He lived perfectly well with it, and the only tooth we had to have removed was a bottom canine that started to bother him when eating, but that wasn't until he was about 7 years old.
Whatever you do, don’t let them file down his canines; it’s barbaric. Only have them removed if you see they’re causing him discomfort or catching on his lips; otherwise, there’s no reason to put him through it.
