nursing cat breathing fast

Hi there,

I'm fostering a mother cat again, and it's been an exhausting couple of days. She gave birth to 7 kittens very quickly and all seemed well. The next day she started breathign fast and panting. I took to my vet who said there was another kitten and I should take her home and let her try to deliver it. I watched over her all night as she looked like she was in labour, but without pushing. In the morning, tragedy struck and one of the little kittens grew weak and cold. I rushed to the rescue vet and sadly, my little "Angel" didn't make it. They diagnosed the cat with dehydration and gave her pain meds. An x ray showed no other kittens. She stayed there with them for observation and came back to me that evening. I've been very watchful and feeding her kitten food mixed with KRM, which she loves. Her scruff seems better so I don't think she's dehydrated. She does breathe fast though and I am concerned. She even started panting for a minute, but has since stopped. It's warm here, and I have no air conditioning, but I put a fan in the room pointed away from her and opened the window to give the room some circulation. I'm still worried about her breathing though. She seems otherwise okay. She eats, she looks after the kittens and she's social with me. Is everything okay? Am I over reacting because of the previous trouble?

Pain meds for dehydration? Why not just sub cut her and re hydrate. Hopefully whatever they gave is ok for nursing cats. 

Panting isn't normal, did she pass all the placentas? How warm is 'warm'? 

They did also give her fluids, but I do think she was in pain, and I think she's in pain again now that the meds have worn off. I missed the birth of the last kitten, so I am not sure she passed every placenta. She was checked for fever at the vet and had none. It's fairly warm, but not scorching. It's better with the fan.
 

At this stage I wouold definitely call the vet and explain what is happening. You cannot risk her health and that of all the kittens, and it does not sound normal.

Hi Jenny, thanks for the help. I called the emergency vet last night and talked with them for a long time. They said it could be a number of things, but because she was still eating and drinking, with no discharge, and still active, alert and nursing the kittens that it could just be pain. I checked on her through the night and found that when I woke up this morning, her breathing had slowed a little. It's still faster than normal, so I will continue to watch and take her to the vet if anything changes.
 

Excellent. At least you have alerted them and are on the watch!