# Blood in stool!!!



## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

So my young male (1.5 years old) Sam has always had weird poops, sometimes they are softer than other days. Recently I have noticed that he gets a bit of blood when he first starts going, or it could be when he finishes, im not sure, but its always more mucusy looking, and there is blood in it. I have had the vet do 6 fecal tests on him and they never find anything! I dont understand it. But this morning was the fourth time I have found blood in his stool and now im getting worried and stressed out that the vet cant tell me anything. what should i do?


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## china_cat84 (Apr 27, 2010)

If this were my cat, I would take him to a different vet for a second opinion. Mucous-y and bloody stools are NOT the norm. And I wouldn't only have fecal tests done, I would get a full blood workup on him as well. If those tests come back normal, I would get x-rays done. Does he have any other symptoms besides the stools? Hope this helped!


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

There is something else, but I dont know if it is a sympton or not... he is always hungry. He will eat, and then like an hour later he is meowing like he hasnt eaten all day.


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## BrianD (Apr 26, 2010)

Would your cat have any reason to be stressed out? One of our cats has this very thing happen when she gets quite stressed.


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

No, he honestly does not get stressed out easily. Even when we moved 5 months ago, he was fine and was running around the minute we brought him into the apartment, I didnt even have to confine him to one room, I tried but he kept meowing to come out lol. He has been like this since i first adopted him. He was 6 months old when I adopted him, and that was last year. So a whole year has gone by and his stool has not changed. I am taking him to the vet on wednesday for another fecal, and Im hoping this time they actually find something.


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

The blood is red I am assuming? At least more red than brown? Brown blood indicated a problem in the small intestine, and reddish would indicate a problem in the large. 

But assuming it's red, there are several things it can be.

Coccidiosis- small protozoan parasite that can sometimes be difficult to find in fecal tests

Giardia- another protozoan parasite that is EXTREMELY difficult to find on a fecal (I've examined poo in class that is for sure positive and found nothing, over and over. On my 17th, yes, 17th sample, I was finally able to find one of the parasites under the microscope. You can use panacur to treat it. That medicine is actually quite mild, so it may not hurt to treat for giardia whether or not you know for sure if the cat has it, since it's so hard to find.

With both the protozoal parasites, you will notice smelly, SMELLY poo that is soft and sometimes lighter in color. 

Some cats have Campylobacter or clostridial bacterial infections that
cause colitis and this can lead to blood in the stools. You might ask your vet to have the stool cultured to see if this is the case.

Some cats are really sensitive to certain ingredients in their food. May I ask what you are feeding? You might try switching to a low allergy food, something grain free. Remember, rapid diet changes can make the problem worse. But a lot of times, they can get irritated bowels from lower quality cat food

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of science diet, but I have seen certain cats with sensitive gastrointestinal tracts respond well to some of Science Diet's specially formulated foods, such as i/d and w/d. These foods have a lot of fiber that slow intestinal transit time. Maybe the foods don't 'rip' through the digestive system so fast, I'm not exactly sure. But perhaps it's worth a shot!

I had the same problem a little while ago. I gradually switch to Taste of the Wild, thinking the grain free kibble would be beneficial to my cats. But no... two of them started having the same symptoms you described- softer poop with mucous-blood. It really scared me, and I switched back to Katz-n-flocken. Now their tummies are finally back to normal.


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

I feed high quality grain free canned food only to both my cats. Natural Balance, Evo, Wellnesscore, etc. Even when he was on a grain free dry kibble before I switched to 100% canned, his poops have been the same. I have tried Natural Balance, Before Grain, and Taste of the Wild kibble in the past, with very slow transitions and his poop has never changed. I am brining him into the vet tomorrow, with one sample from home, and hopefully they can get a fresh sample from him when he's there. They also told me that if I see anymore of the bloody mucuous, to put it in a ziploc bag and refrigerate it (yuck) but if it helps, Ill just have to hide it from my mom or she would be furious of knowing there is cat poo in the fridge haha.


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

Haha I'm so with you on that. My roommates were always so irritated when I would refrigerate my own cat's poop to bring to class. One time I forgot about some, and my roommate pulled it out from the back of the fridge weeks later... oh man, the look on her face 8O 

It sounds like you're on the right track as far as feeding him the good stuff goes. If it's a food allergy, it could be a long, complicated road with process of elimination to figure out what exactly it is that causes him the irritation. Taking him to the vet is your best shot at figuring out what's up, you should let us know what they say!


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

So he pooped, and again at the end there was bloody mucous, which doesnt land in the litter box, it falls on the floor just outside the LB. So I picked it up with the ziploc bag, and then I scooped the poop out aswell, and noticed that one part of his poop was the same mucous looking thing, and then it solidified at the end. So I took that piece too and put it in the fridge. I really hope they can find something this time, I just feel so bad for him  and to make matters worse, Im pretty certain that my female is having another urinary issue, she peed on my sisters bed twice today, so I made an appointment for her to go in tomorrow aswell for a urinalysis. I dont get it though, shes only on canned food. However, I know urinary issues arent just brought on by water intake, but stress aswell. And we did just get a new puppy in february which she doesnt like that much yet. UGH why must my kitties be sick


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

atback Hang in there. I know the stress of having sick kitties. When this is all over, you should get them some new toys, or some catnip


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

So I went to the vet today and they tested his stool, and found nothing -.-' The vet gave me some type of medication that is supposed to help him stomach to see if that will change his poop. Also, I got the Medical Gastro food for him to see if that might help too. If this doesnt work, I am going to get a bloodtest to check if it could be viral. And then with my female, UGH, she does not have a UTI, no crystals, no inflammation, the vet thinks it is behavioral which makes sense. He suggested I put her on a medication which is like kitty prozac, cant remember the name. He said she doesnt have to go on it forever, but maybe 2-4 weeks to give her a ''pill vacation'' from her stress. I am not sure if I want to do that to her, but at the same time nothing else has helped with relieving her stress. She has been getting stressed out very easily in the past two years since my dog died. They were best friends, and after he passed away she completely changed, she was terrified of everything, didnt like strangers, and got frightened at any sudden sound or movement. That dog was literally her best friend and security blanket, they ate together, slept together, and even played, and it really affected her when he passed away. My friend knows my cat very well, and knows what shes like, and she does suggest I put my cat on the kitty prozac for a couple of weeks just to let her have a break from stress, but I cant go on my decision with just one person giving me feedback. If this was your cat, would you do the kitty prozac? I need help with this decision >.<


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

If it were my own cat, I would be hesitant. But then again I am wary of over-medicating. However, I have a friend at school whose cat was having peeing issues. They put her cat on kitty-prozac and it worked wonders. Food for thought.


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

Yeah, I am also not one to over medicate any of my animals, I dont even get my cats vaccinated, my younger cat has only gotten hims kitten shots, and when that was all finished with I didnt get him anymore, and my older cat only got her kitten shots and then a booster 3 years later, but I had to do that because I was adopting the kitten. But, I think if she is still peeing on my sisters bed in a couple of weeks I may have to give the kitty prozac a try for 2-4 weeks, just to see if that helps. I dont want her to be so stressed out all the time, even if she does just get a little pill vacation, maybe it will be enough to show her she doesnt have to be like that all the time. I dunno :? still thinking it through a lot


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