Red blood in cat poop

[CallieKatherine]

Hi all,
feels like i’ve been posting a lot on here lately but i’m truly at a loss and could really use some advice. In the beginning of january my senior cat lost most of his appetite and was taken to the vet where it was determined he was constipated and had pretty bad gas most likely due to eating some of the fake snow on our christmas tree. After a few days on lactulose and cisapride he had multiple bowel movements and his appetite came back as well as drinking. He did have small amount of bright red blood in his poop but i assumed it was because of the constipation. It’s been about three weeks now and his appetite and drinking are still normal but the blood in his poop hasn’t really stopped. It’s not a large amount and the poop itself looks normal, no diarrhea or anything like that. I kept assuming it was going to go away since otherwise he seems totally normal but it’s just not. It’s not every single time but it is decently consistent and it’s only on the outside of the poop. He’s still peeing completely normal. When he was at the vet a few weeks ago we had bloodwork and an x-ray done and the only thing abnormal was that he could tell he was a bit constipated with gas. My cat is absolutely terrified of going to the vet so i’m really trying not to force him to go again. Any ideas would be helpful

*IF UNCOMFORTABLE WITH BLOOD PLEASE DO NOT LOOK AT PICTURE*

 

[NekoM]

This is one of those symptoms that can have multiple causes and would need a sample. Basically there’s bleeding somewhere along the digestive tract, it could as simple as a small cut from the drier poop that comes out after constipation to something complicated that caused the constipation. Lift up his tail and visually check if there’s any sore spots or cuts in that area first.

 

[CallieKatherine]

This is one of those symptoms that can have multiple causes and would need a sample. Basically there’s bleeding somewhere along the digestive tract, it could as simple as a small cut from the drier poop that comes out after constipation to something complicated that caused the constipation. Lift up his tail and visually check if there’s any sore spots or cuts in that area first.

he does seem to have some little like flakes of poop i guess would be the best way to describe it, but i don’t see any cuts or anything like that. When he was constipated and came home from the vet it was a pretty large bowel movement so it would make sense if it irritated something but would that last weeks?

 

[CallieKatherine]

I also forgot to mention the night he came home from the vet he was given a very large dose of lactulose which caused him to get out the hard pieces that were in his colon but he went back in a few minutes later and had diarrhea. This is the only time he has had diarrhea but i’m not sure if maybe that could have irritated something inside him also? It was the bowel movement after the diarrhea that he started experiencing the blood. Just thought i would add that in case it is useful

 

[NekoM]

The GI tract is a mystery even in human medicine. I’m not a vet, but all those symptoms together on a person would be a irritable bowel issue. Ask your vet if you can drop off a sample for testing, that way he can avoid a vets visit.

 

[CallieKatherine]

The GI tract is a mystery even in human medicine. I’m not a vet, but all those symptoms together on a person would be a irritable bowel issue. Ask your vet if you can drop off a sample for testing, that way he can avoid a vets visit.

i’ll look into taking in a stool sample thank you for the advice. i am hesitant to think it’s IBS because the times he’s been constipated it’s been due to him eating either things he wasn’t supposed to (like the fake snow) or brands of food that his stomach is not used to. I also know that the diarrhea was caused by the laxative he was given that night and is not a normal occurrence. Other than the blood, his poop now still looks normal so i’m just a bit confused. Thank you for your help i really appreciate it!

 

[CallieKatherine]

small update: for anyone who may stumble on this thread and have some advice. I made this post last night when he pooped what was in the picture above with the small amount of blood, it’s now about 6 hours later and he’s pooped again but this time without any blood. I’m really not sure what to think