Cat - lots of blood in stool

[Shiloh Acres]

And I JUST got back from the vet, for something unrelated. And now everyone is closed. Just wondering if anyone out there has an idea what might be involved.

WARNING - some of what follows is a bit graphic by way of description.

Eta (I would have put it at the end but i can't scroll down there). I doubt it's related BUT the dog started making lots of stomach noises maybe a week or so ago. Not every day. The first day I gave him Probios and some digestive enzymes. I've since found out it is the enzymes that help. I give him a broad-spectrum enzyme capsule for humans. The noises clear up. I don't know why he seems to need them. His food is also high quality, no corn, no by products, etc though I do feed him the chicken and rice type rather than the lamb. He seemed ok with it since I got him five months ago. Other than dog biscuits from the feed store, he gets VERY little else (people food treats). Maybe a tiny tidbit a couple times a week. Doubt it's related but figured I'd mention it.

My inside pets are a dog and two 2-year old spayed/neutered feral rescue cats that I adopted as young kittens. The male had a history of unidentified digestive upsets. His first year many of his stools were large and loose, with occasional blood streaks. The vet could never find anything wrong with him. I started feeding him yogurt and it improved, finally he was normal after some months.

The cats both get a high quality cat food with no grains or by products, because the female is very delicate and prone to health issues too.

All has been well for quite some time. They are not on any regular meds and are strictly indoor cats.

A couple days ago I found about five very runny stools scattered all over their room. I'm afraid I needed to clean the litterboxes (they're pretty picky about that) so I thought it was too dirty to suit one of them and they tried to wait but couldn't and that was the cause. Just in case, though, I gave the male Probios that day.

Now today I found something else in their room. A small part of it resembles stool, though blackish and sticky. Most of it is dark red and looks more like jelly. There is no bad odor to it. It seemed partly congealed but there was a LOT more blood involved than the little streaks of his kittenhood. I do suspect it is the male, but I gave them both Probios. (And I almost need a doc myself -- the female HATES meds and if I don't hide it in tuna, she will tear me up trying to get away!).

Both are acting normally, eating, playing, etc. I see no signs of illness whatsoever and I'm usually pretty good at catching it in the cats.

I just wonder if anyone has likely ideas of what it could be? I've never dealt with those kinds of symptoms. Oh, they were fully vaccinated. They are a little overdue for their shots, but don't get exposed to anything. There are feral cats that visit our barn, but our cats stay inside and we haven't even had windows open with them in a room, since the male will push screens out.

Thanks.

 

[Lisa Beck]

Hi. I am a certified herbalist and I specialize in natural animal wellness. The first thing I would do, is take a stool sample to your vet and have it tested for parasites. Alot of times stools with blood and mucus is due to a parasite infection of some kind. Cats and dogs get tape worm from fleas. If they ingest any flea they normally get the tapes. Now you can normally find the rice like sections on the rear end of your animal, but not always. The probiotic can help, but there are natural remedies that may help. Historically garlic, worm wood, and or Pau D Arco may help. I use all natural herbal wormers for both my cats and Nigerian dwarf goats.

 

[ksalvagno]

Boy, not really sure but it doesn't sound good. I have 2 abandoned cats that have ended up being indoor cats with delicate systems too. I have to be careful what I feed them too. Good luck with your cat.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Thanks, Karen. I AM worried just to see a lot of bloody stool. I'm glad at least he's active, hungry, bright-eyed, and ACTING normal. He does usually get down when he's very ill.

Thanks for posting, Lisa. I have not SEEN tapes but ... Anything is possible. I have wondered if it isn't some parasite the vets kept missing.

Hmmmmm .....

I do keep fleas off them (the female is allergic) but the dog must have carried one in a few months ago since she did have an outbreak. I have a cat tapeworm dewormer on hand, and I have garlic in many forms. I might be out of wormwood -- gotta check.

I plan to check with the vet anyway. Even if they don't find anything (they never have in the past and I've had him hospitalized once to be checked). But even if they don't find anything, I may see if I can proceed with deworming him as safely as I can.

I just don't normally jump in with herbs for cats, since their systems seem to react so differently, and I'm no expert on herbs for cats. If garlic is safe though, I'd like to try that, since it COULD help with other nasties as well. I've long wondered if it wasn't some protozoal-type infection.

Thanks so much to you both. He's looking right now like his stomach may be uncomfortable. He just laid down more carefully than usual.

 

[Lisa Beck]

Yes you can use garlic, but in small doses. Large doses for extended amounts of time can cause anemia. What the garlic does is it removes any extra mucus in the intestinal system where the worms like to hide. Your vet may not see any tape worm eggs. You are usually better off to look for the rice like segments. But just in case I would still run a fecal. Good luck.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Well, by way of updating, found nothing in the cat. Again. Don't know why he has periodic gastrointestinal bouts (bloody diarrhea) but he always has and they can never find out why. Garlic doesn't hurt him. He likes it, in fact. (I had forgotten I used to give him garlic tabs that were supposed to help with fleas once. They never did but he did develop a taste for them. DE finally controlled those fleas.)

It was the dog though. I guess he snuck into the cat room. He's not supposed to, but does at rare times. Guess he thought needing to vomit up a lot of blood was a good time. But it really slowed me down finding out who had the problem. I wondered at the lack of expected odor.

He's fine now too, which is good. Lost the old dog on Saturday (she was almost 15 and a German Shepherd mix, so it wasn't a shock. Sad though. Lost a guinea that was dead in the coop same day.

Seems like I'm always watching, checking, trying to keep pets and livestock healthy. I thought I lost my best rabbit breeder doe today, but it turned out she was just really still. At least the goats are on the upswing at present (the littlest one is impossible to catch or control, LOL) and the llamas don't give me any worries. And the geese are pretty much trouble-free, though I do have to find out if they can pick up barberpoles from grazing behind the goats. I wish I had a few dozen extra acres of pasture to rotate to!

Thanks for everyone's help on my various critters at various times.