Help! Rescued Kitten with Retained Baby Tooth and dental issues?

I rescued a sweet Maine Coon kitten the end of Sept.   She's now about 17 weeks old. 

She's been to the Vet several times, has already been spayed (Oct 4) and had to have a partial tail amputation as she had an injured end of her tail when I found her.   When I first got her, I noticed what appeared to be little "tooth buds" coming in between her lower canine teeth.   One seemed to be protruding from the gum lower than the others.   The Vet commented on it but said basically that those were her baby teeth so they'd fall out anyway.   Well she's been chewing on things a little more lately and her breath is a little more smelly so I thought maybe she was teething.   I was shocked to see that one of her upper canine teeth, it appears that baby canine tooth has not fallen out and is growing along side the permanent canine.  

And the bottom incisors (the little teeth between the bottom canine/fang teeth)....they are quite yellow, I'm thinking these are still the baby teeth (?) but that one that's not protruding in line with the others......the gum looks a little red around it.   I am attaching pictures.

I do have a Vet appt for tomorrow afternoon.   When I called the clinic yesterday, my vet wasn't in but I explained situation to Vet Tech who said she'd talk to another Vet then came back and told me not to worry, that cats rarely retain baby teeth....I assured her that i've read that it does happen and often the retained tooth needs to be surgically extracted.   The impression I got from her was that I should just give it time and it will likely just fall out?

Has anyone ever dealt with this?   Like I said, she's only 17 weeks so according to what I've read, she still has a fair bit of time before baby teeth are expected to fall out.

Concerned more about the bottom ?tooth bud that seems to be growing out the wrong spot......I have already spent $1700 I didn't really have or plan for when I rescued her, becuase of her initial health issues (the injured tail, had diarrhea, eye infection, very dehydrated, needed special food for a few weeks due to ongoing diarrhea, tore out one of her claws, etc etc).  

Thanks for any info you can share.   I had kittens 20 years ago and didn't know anything about cats then but never had any issues with their teeth or retained baby teeth.

That is the normal way for those canine teeth to come in.  First the adult tooth grows in, then the baby tooth falls out.  This is to keep the cat "fully functional," able to hunt and eat.

As to the little incisor, I have no clue.
 

MrBlanche

Everything I've been reading says that it's not normal, as in my cat's case, to have both the baby canine and the permanent canine to be growing out of the same spot and that in both dogs and cats, it's most commonly the canine tooth that's retained.  

This article explains it best:

"The body begins a process of resorption of the baby teeth as soon as the permanent teeth begin their formation. This process causes the

teeth to loosen and fall out as the permanent teeth erupt. Occasionally, the normal resorption process fails, and the deciduous teeth do not fall out. This is commonly referred to as "retained deciduous teeth." This situation leads to problems as two teeth try to occupy the same area causing the new permanent tooth to erupt at an abnormal angle or in an abnormal position. This can result in malocclusion or an abnormal "bite."

The four "canine" teeth are most commonly retained."

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/dealing-with-retained-baby-teeth/page1.aspx

Here's another article explaining that it's not normal for both to be growing at the same time, along with a picture showing both:  http://www.cat-world.com.au/retained-baby-teeth-in-cats

From what I've read about the canine teeth, it's the growth of the permanent tooth that will help push the baby tooth out so that it's loose and falls out?

She is teething and at just over 4 months that's normal. 

My kitten had exactly the same at that age, so did another kitten.  In both cases the milk teeth disappeared on their own.  No need for any intervention at this stage in my view.  BTW both my kittens where I noticed this had perfectly normal adult teeth once their mouths had settled down. 

I suspect this happens a lot more than we think.  I noticed it with these two as the first one developed horrendous bad breath overnight, and the second stopped eating as she was in pain.  I've never noticed it with my other cats over the years, but without the pain & bad breath (neither of which happen to all kittens) I never checked their mouths.

Every kitten I've ever seen lose his baby teeth looked exactly like that, with the adult tooth growing out next to the baby tooth, and then the baby tooth falling out.  I've even found a few of those baby teeth around, after they fell out.  I can't say I've ever noticed the incisors or other teeth.
 

Very interesting, thank you both for your responses and sharing your experiences!   It's been 20 years since I had a kitten and back then I didn't know too much about cats :-)

Well I did pop her into the Vet today, and though I checked the baby canine tooth the other day to see if it was loose, Vet wiggled it and said it was very loose such that it would fall out on its own or she could likely very easily wiggle it out, which she did and it came out easily, root and all!  

The bottom incisors she's not sure about...whether they're still baby teeth or permanent.   She agrees that one of them is growing in a strange spot and IF it is a baby tooth, the permanent could grow in normal......or there is the possibility down the line that it will have to be extracted....but we're okay to just wait and see.   She did agree there was some redness to the gum around that tooth, which is what concerned me.   She feels we're safe to just wait a bit and see.

Funny, everything I've read about retained canine baby teeth in kittens says that that tooth must be immediately surgically extracted........never read anything about just giving it some time to see if it falls out on its own........guess that's what scared me.   I'd much prefer for nature to take its course than put a kitten through general anesthetic!

thanks so much