Week old kitten is breathing fast

Question
Hello,

I'm not quite sure if you can help me, but I figured I would give it a shot!  I have a week old kitten that is with it's mother, it was born with just one other kitten that did not live, it passed away the same day it was born.  I think because it was what you would call a "runt".  Anyway, this kitten that has been nursing from it's mom, looks very healthy, just opened it's eyes yesterday.  But this morning I noticed that it seems to be breathing quite fast and deep.  Is this normal for a kitten to do this?  I checked it's gums   and lips to see if maybe they were blue from any kind of respiratory distress and they seem to be the right color.  It just seems to me that the breathing is not right, too deep and too fast!  Please can you help, or have any suggestions?

Thank you,
Lisa

Answer
Lisa,

My wife and I conferred on this as she usually is much more into little newborn kittens than I am.  She agrees with me that this is normal.  As long as the little one is gaining weight (I assume you are weighing the kitten every day). all should be well.

I think as long as the kitten is nursing, gaining weight and with its mother (as opposed to off by itself), all is OK.  At this age, even were something wrong, there would be little or nothing to do about it!

My thought on newborns, is if all looks OK, the kitten is gaining weight, and mama is happy to care for it, all IS OK.

Best regards... Norm.