My 7-week-old kitten seems weak and underweight. What should I do?

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Storm. Applying some Karo syrup or honey to her gums and tongue will provide some rapid glucose for her body to burn. You should try to force feed her with a good kitten milk replacer via bottle or syringe but if she is weak she might not nurse. Your best bet would be to get her to a vet immediately so they can evaluate her and then treat her accordingly while trying to figure out what is going on. Make sure she is nice and warm since small kittens cannot regulate their body temperature. Their normal temp should be around 99 degrees to 102 degrees farenheit. Not sure how old she is but you need to be stimulating her genital area also to get her to eliminate. Again these little guys can get sick very quickly and it's important you get her help as soon as you can. Good luck with her. I would also advise deworming her unless that was already done. Deworming should be done every 3 weeks after 2 weeks of age for at least 3-4 times.

Given her age there are several things that cross my mind, but a common issue in these young kittens is parasites. Sometimes their parasite burden can be so high that they cannot maintain adequate glucose levels, and also can become uninterested in food and sometimes will begin vomiting. I would recommend deworming her. Also, it would be important to rule out signs of infection and/or sepsis. I think she needs to be seen by a veterinarian right away. Such a young and small animal can deteriorate quickly even with easy to resolve issues like gastrointestinal parasites.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would deworm him. Intestinal parasites are almost always present in young animals as they are passed from the milk. He could be getting more lean but this could also be an early warning sign that something is going on. I would collect a stool sample and have him seen for his first vet visit. The Vet can do an exam, test his stool, feline leukemia and FIV test him and consider giving his first vaccination. I wish you and Noah the very best!

Kittens gain about 500 grams per month. So, at 4 months of age, she should be around 2kg. Feed her a good quality canned kitten food. Have her examined by your vet and submit a stool sample to rule out intestinal parasites.

Kittens can sleep up to 18-20 hours a day, so it is normal that they appear to sleep all the time. If she is skinny, that could be caused by intestinal worms, which are very common in kittens. I would give her a deworming treatment such as Panacur, which you can get OTC. You will need to give a deworming treatment every two weeks until she is three months old, then once a month until she is six months old, and then every three months after that. I would leave a kitten formulated food out for her at all times. To help her wean and get used to kitten food, I would soak a high quality kitten formulated dry food in warm water until soft. Then mix that with kitten formula such as KMR to make a mush the consistency of oatmeal. Over the next two weeks, gradually increase the amount of dry kitten food and decrease the amount of water and KMR you use until she is eating the dry kitten food only.

Submit a stool sample to your veterinarian to diagnose intestinal parasites which are common in kittens. At 4 weeks of age, Gatsby shoukdbweigh about 1 pound. You can offer a slurry made from KMR (kitten milk replacer) and a high quality kitten canned food. Offer food about 4-5 times a day. An exam with the vet would be recommended anyway to rule out injury or neurological conditions that may be affecting his gait.

It would be the right time to start introducing solid food gradually. Initially just mixing it with kitten milk, then over 4-5 days wean her off onto solids completely. She is too big to rely on milk only.