My kitten is weak, cold, and unresponsive. Is it a vet emergency?

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.

I am afraid this is an emergency. You will need to take your kitten to a veterinarian out of hours clinic now. Ivory could have an intestinal obstruction having ingested a toy or other foreign body. The fact that he feels cold to touch is also a serious concern. Please take Ivory to a vet now.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Croshanks needs to go to an Emergency hospital right away!! He looks extremely dehydrated and likely is hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). There is not enough time for you to get Kitten Milk replacer and a bottle to feed this kitten. It likely won't suckle. It needs to be tube fed or put on IV fluids with dextrose. I hope this helps and I wish Croshanks the best!

I am very sorry to hear about your kitten. From your description it sounds like it could be very anemic (low red blood cells) and it may actually be agonal/dying if it is crying out every few minutes while otherwise being weak. This kitten needs veterinary care and will not survive at home. I would recommend relinquishing the kitten to a veterinarian or rescue/shelter/humane society if you cannot care for it as there is nothing at home you will be able to do if this kitten is as ill as you describe. You can also consult this website for ideas on affording veterinary care: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/having-trouble-affording-veterinary-care . In the meantime keep the kitten warm and you can try rubbing karo syrup or honey on his gums in case his blood sugar is very low.

I am so sorry to hear about Kleo. These symptoms are very concerning and could potentially lead to if she goes untreated. It is impossible for me to say what is going on with her without an examination but with her symptoms we would worry about things like an issue with circulation due to a possible heart condition, hypoglycemia (very low blood sugar), neurological issues, toxicity. I would recommend rubbing some karo syrup or honey on her gums in case her blood sugar is low, wrapping her in a warm blanket or towel (one from the dryer if available to be even a little warmer if she is cold) and getting her to the vet right away. They will need to do an examination of her to try to determine the cause of the symptoms which will help determine if treatment is possible. I wish you the best of luck.

This is not normal kitten behavior and i recommend an emergency vet check to distinguish the source of his weakness and to start appropriate treatment. The signs are too vague to guess without a full physical exam

Honey or karo syrup can be placed on the gums every 30 minutes to prevent hypoglycemia, but you have to be careful not to use too much if she has trouble swallowing as it can go down into the lungs and cause aspiration pneumonia. If she is not doing better in a few hours, though, I would recommend taking her to an emergency vet. Small kittens can get dehydrated very quickly, and it appears that she is very sick.