CAT has blood in stool - NO parasites - Need Advice (pics included)

[elinster]

Hello Friends, I need some advice, I'm a first time Cat Mom.  Basically everything makes me nervous and I tend to run to the Vet right away. There are multiple things that are going on simultaneously, so I'm not sure what's causing what. My 4 year old Persian cat Luigi has been having bloody stools for the past month. I took him to the Vet twice since then, he has no parasites and his blood test is good. He is currently on the prescription rabbit diet.  We didn't check for polyps, because he gets super stressed and needs to be sedated, so I wanted to wait and see if diet will help. We also got a new kitten. Here is how our problems started:

1.  In October Luigi started having some constipation, I have been changing his food to grain free, but he wasn't eating it so I went back to Medley's by Fancy Feast - I  added pumpkin and his constipation seemed to improve

2. End of November - Luigi swallowed balloon ribbon, which he threw up and pooped up, but his constipation later returned - I'm not sure if it was related to ribbons.  I had to give him either pumpkin or coconut oil to produce poop.

3. End of December - My boyfriend got me a small kitten!!! Also,  I took Luigi to the Vet to get X-rays because I feared that the ribbon didn't come out. The results showed a minor obstruction, possibly hairball the Vet said.  She prescribed us laxative (human Miralax, the goal was to get his stool soft).  We had almost instant results, I was supposed to give him 1/4 tsp until stool then reduce to 1/8.  It so happened then when I would reduce to 1/8 he wouldn't poop and 1/4 gave him diarrhea. I stopped giving him laxative after about 3-4 weeks, his stool seemed to be ok, but visibly firmed up. 

4. January - Luigi was pretty much on the laxative

5. February - I first spotted little blood in the stool. Of course I immediately took him to the vet and we checked for parasites etc - everything came back normal.  She gave him antibiotics for 5 days.  It seems like the antibiotics caused him a little constipation, but I didn't dare giving any more laxatives. 

6. End of February - I took him for a second visit and got prescription rabbit diet - He eats, sleeps, super playful and no vomiting, no other signs of discomfort, except I saw some fleas and gave both cats flea medication.  

Now, my question is - could this bloody stool be as simple as stress from a new kitten?? Or food allergies? The Vet advised to eat rabbit food for a whole month.  He started with little strings of blood and now he sometimes has about 1/4 teaspoon usually when he produces large poops and it seems rabbit food makes him poop. The good thing is he definitely got regular nice soft bowel movements, but what is the blood? 

I'm worried and I've already changed the vets, this one I really like. My boyfriend wants to go get second opinion, but I'm not sure. Because what is the other Vet going to do, they will still need to do same tests. My current Vet said we have about a month to play around, but the next step would be to check for polyps. Should I take that next step and take him to get colonoscopy ? I'm just worried that it will stress him more and we will definitely need to sedate him for this, otherwise he will go crazy. He hisses a lot when we take him to the Vet. 

PS. Luigi east Royal Canin select protein rabbit diet wet and dry, it seems like he doesn't have blood with wet, could the dry be causing it? 

Any advice is appreciated. Sorry for long message. 

Attached are 2 photos of what I consider significant amount of blood, is it? 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Poop 1.png

• elinster
• Mar 1, 2017

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Poop 2.png

• elinster
• Mar 1, 2017

 

[shnicklefritz]

Hi I'm not a vet but first I want you to relax.

The fact that he is playful,eating,for the most part normal is a fantastic sign. I've had as many cats and they usually show signs of pain by not eating or acting differently. As for the ribbon, that is dangerous for cats, I've heard of people having to pull it out from cats butts. If that cut his rear coming out he might have been having a hard time going, laxatives could have made him go too much and irritated his lower intestines or like I said if the ribbon cut something going as big and as much as he has could have irritated it.

The only thing I'm wondering is if your cat is an out door cat since you mentioned fleas, cats like to chew on wood so if he's swallowing parts of twigs that can hurt coming out or be sharp enough to cut intestines(most likely scrape in your case), as for the obstruction i think you should ask the vet a bit more about it.I'd look out for that just in case. My cat loves chewing on pencils and I do get nervous. I suggest you let his body digest things naturally for a bit and see if this rabbit diet has any negative side effects.other than that look up any polyp remedies you think you'd be safe to try for the neck of it, it may save you a bill.

You sound very caring and that is great,keep in mind that most things that aren't serious our bodies can usually heal on their own. I do understand that communication isnt the same but look up signs that youre cat would be in pain

 

[elinster]

Thank you for your reply!

No, he is not an outside cat, but we live in Los Angeles and our windows/doors are open.  He sits by the open window all the time and we have lots of squirrels and feral cats that pass by. 

I have already decided to go to the vet in a week if I see any more blood, its just too frustrating. I asked the Vet about the ribbons a million times and she said its highly unlikely it's still there. I did tell her the he was producing large stools with no problem for a while. 

I do think he has some kind of irritation there so I've eliminated dry food for now, only wet.  He also was trying to throw up a hair ball last night, which sucks because it would not help his irritation.  He is incredibly fluffy... I brush him daily, but I haven't seen a hairball for a while. I haven't really given him anything from hairballs for a while.  

I'll just have to observe for now . 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I think it's good that you've taken the dry away from him as dry food can cause constipation,and constipation can cause fresh blood in their stools, which may be what you are seeing.   Time will tell this change in diet helps.

How is he getting along with the new kitten?  Stress can definitely cause all kinds of things, so if they aren't getting along famously, then that  could be causing part of the problem, oddly enough.   

 

[elinster]

Hello!  Thanks for replying.

They are getting along fine I think.  We did a proper introduction sniffing under door etc for a week.  Luigi is a very calm cat and very laid back, the new kitten is supper energetic and is also a bully, he is very naughty.  He always jumps on Luigi wanting to play and bites ( I sometimes see Luigi initiating the attack first) and although it definitely looks like they are playing, I do know that Luigi's routine is messed up.  He could be sleeping there in his favorite spot and the kitten will come and jump on him asking to play and Luigi will just leave.  Luigi has found few spots up high on shelf and displays where kitten can't get him yet.  

Even though they are playing, I do believe he is stressed about the kitten. I now don't know if his back twitching and tail licking is stress or flea allergy. He should have no fleas by now from the revolution treatment. 

The Vet also said the diet will take time.  I am guilty of giving him some hairball treats in the past few days, so now I'm strictly doing just wet food, no treats... nothing. In my defense, I only gave him treats after seeing normal poop with no blood for 3 days.  He just looks so cute when he begs for the kibbles, but I have to be strong.  I FORGOT to mention that Luigi and kitten eat different  brands of food and in the beginning Luigi would come eat kitten's food and vice versa.  I'm at work most of the time and my boyfriend is not that reliable, but I trained him to supervise and make sure each eats his own food. 

I'm just wondering how long is too long to just "observe", is it reasonable to just observe if he is otherwise normal.  How much blood is too much in the stool?  Like my boyfriend almost fainted when he saw half a spoon and people at the vet clinic didn't even shrug. 

Luigi and Rocky.png

• elinster
• Mar 2, 2017

 

[stephenq]

The in-house tests that vets do for parasites are not 100%.  I would request a PCR test that is sent out, its not that much $ and its 100% definitive.  Diet can have an effect, IBD could be a cause, but I wouldn't blame dry food.

 

[elinster]

Thanks for your reply, Stephen! 

We did test for parasites twice in 2 weeks and both times they sent it out.  No parasites. 

I don't think dry food by itself could cause problems, but if he has IBD couldn't the insides get irritated? I once saw how much bigger the kibbles get when in contact with moisture and it surprised me.

It sounds like the cause of blood could really be anything. 

I was just hoping that someone can tell me how much blood is too much, so I can either stop worrying or go to the vet and do all X-ray and colonoscopy etc.  

Elina

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I guess it's really hard to say just how much blood is too much.  If your Vet isn't thinking what they've seen so far is too much, then I'd go with that. 

when you're on a special diet, it's best not to be giving ANY other food.  You might phone the Vet and ask if it's okay to give any type of hairball treatment...may the hairball paste of something, because from that picture, I can see hairballs definitely could be a problem.  I give my guys a capsule of Egg Yolk Lecithn everyday for them.  Maybe run that past your Vet. I just mix it into their food daily.  They don't seem to mind. 

I ADORE that picture BTW.  So cute

 

[elinster]

Interestingly, for the past 3 days Luigi has been eating wet food only, no snacks or treats or dry food. just a little  pumpkin and there is no blood detected in stool so far....