My 6-week-old kitten is lethargic, won't eat. Can I give Karo syrup?

If Dewey starts refusing food and acting lethargic, unfortunately there is nothing you can do for him at home besides giving him a teaspoon of honey or Karo syrup before having to rush him into the vet. Newborn kittens are extremely fragile, and any problem with them should be considered an emergency. I would find another vet to see him should he start acting like his brother did before he died.

If she had what appeared to be a seizure, I would place a small amount of karo syrup on the gums and get her seen right away as her sugar level may be low. This could easily cause the seizures with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Sick kittens oftentimes do not eat enough and will secondarily get hypoglycemia. I would take her into her vet right away to be examined and treated. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns you may have. I am also available via consultation.

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.

Hi and thank you for posting your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You can also use maple syrup if you don't have honey or corn syrup on hand. A little bit under the gums will help bring his blood glucose level up. You may also try warming up her food (if it is wet food) and offering that to her. Sometimes warming the food brings out the favor and may entice him to eat a bit. I hope this has helped and I hope he has a speedy recovery!

Your kitten needs to be seen by a vet immediately. Cats cannot go without eating for more than a few days without suffering liver damage. Your kitten is likely very dehydrated and weak and will need supportive care to help him survive. Right now, make sure he stays warm and mix some honey or corn syrup with warm water and very carefully use a syringe or dropper to get him to swallow some of this to help rehydrate him and give him some calories. Be very careful because it is easy to choke him when he is this weak.

I'm sorry you are in this situation. You can try Karo syrup if you have that. The problem is that newborn kittens are extremely fragile, and some do not make it. They cannot go long without eating. You can try giving it an emergency formula, but you will have to get kitten formula as soon as possible. I will link an article below on kitten care: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-raise-orphan-kittens/ https://www.2ndchance.info/orphankitten.htm

I would highly recommend bringing her back to a vet. She most likely needs some fluid and nutritional support. This can be a virus that she is fighting off but to fight it off properly she needs nutrition. Her glucose can drop very low if she does not eat and cause seizures and even death. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.