What teething looks like in a kitten
A teething kitten's behaviour changes in small, understandable ways. Chewing increases noticeably, and it is directed at whatever fits in her mouth: toy edges, cardboard, blanket corners, and, given the chance, cables and fingers. You may see mild drooling, occasional pawing or rubbing at her mouth, and gums that look a little red where a tooth is pushing through. Appetite often dips around meals of hard food while soft food is eaten willingly, and some kittens become briefly more irritable about having their mouth or head handled. Baby teeth are sometimes found where she sleeps or plays, though many are simply swallowed unnoticed, which is normal and harmless. The signs come in waves over the teething period rather than as one continuous episode, with comfortable weeks between sore ones.
Help her chew on the right things
Your main job is supply and diversion. Provide toys made to be chewed, with textures that give under her teeth, and rotate them so novelty keeps her interested; a toy she can really work on is doing the job her gums are asking for. Divert every attempt on cables, cords and furniture corners to those toys immediately and kindly, and tidy the environment as if for a toddler, because teething is precisely when a kitten discovers the chewability of everything at her height. Chilled items can soothe some kittens, so a toy or a clean cloth dampened and cooled, offered under supervision, is worth trying, but remove anything that begins to tear or shed pieces she could swallow, and never leave her chewing unsupervised on something that can break apart.
Adjust food while her mouth is tender
If she approaches the bowl eagerly and then eats slowly, leaves hard pieces, or drops food, tenderness is a likelier explanation than fussy behaviour. Soften her meals for a while by adding a little warm water, or offer a softer format of her usual growth food, and check that she is still eating enough overall by watching her condition and her weight trend. Keep handling of her mouth gentle and brief during sore spells, and postpone any non-essential mouth practice, such as tooth-touch games, until the wave passes, because a kitten who learns that mouth handling hurts while teething may carry the objection long after the soreness is gone. Resume it later in tiny, rewarded steps.
The signs that are not ordinary teething
Teething discomfort is mild, so treat anything stronger as a reason to ask a veterinarian rather than as an extreme version of normal. Warning signs include refusing food for more than a day, marked drooling, bad breath, bleeding that does not stop, a tooth that looks broken or grows in at an odd angle trapping the baby tooth beside it, swelling of the face or jaw, or a kitten who becomes withdrawn and unplayful. A baby tooth that remains firmly in place while the adult tooth grows alongside it is also worth showing at a check, since retained baby teeth can crowd the mouth. Bring your notes on when signs started and what you have seen, because a dated account helps the veterinarian judge quickly whether this is teething or something else wearing its clothes.
Note it in the record she keeps for life
Teething is a short chapter, but recording it pays off: the dates her teeth changed, any retained baby tooth that was checked, and how her appetite behaved all become part of the background a future veterinarian reads when something in her mouth needs attention as an adult. KinsLe Pet Passport keeps those teething notes with the rest of your kitten's records in one portable packet, so this brief, gnawing season is documented rather than forgotten.