Blood Near Food Bowl

skoshkie

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For the last week or so, I have been noticing small remnants of blood near my cat's food bowl (She is about 7 months old, in case that matters). Is this a sign of any health problem? Or could the blood be caused by her chewing certain materials? Any ideas?

Thanks.
 

zissou'smom

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It is not normal, what does 'remnants' mean? Like you are finding scabs, or little flakes, or drops of blood? What might she be chewing that would make her bleed? Cats do teethe, but you shouldn't really be seeing blood anywhere.

Check her mouth and make sure there are no broken teeth. Is she spayed? How are her stitches healing?

And above all, please make an appt to go to the vet if you haven't been for this specific problem.
 
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skoshkie

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By remnants, I mean very small dried blood drops, maybe one or two at a time. She doesn't chew anything harder than her dry food, and we haven't noticed blood anywhere else. We just checked her teeth and they are not bloody and seem fine. She was spayed before we adopted her, which was over a month ago, so no stitches to worry about. Hope that helps.
 

ryanjay

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odd jump(yes I have seen it happen..) any chance she has worms? or just a sore butt? When mine get worms(always taking in cats and sometimes quarantine or not stuff happens) they tend to get lose stools and a bloody butt so when they sit you see a bit(being in most houses the kitchen floor is white and rest blends... is her stool normal? either to hard or loose could cause this
 
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skoshkie

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Ryanjay, that theory may be correct. I have noticed her dragging her butt once or twice. Her stool seems normal to me, if anything it may be too hard, but I haven't noticed any change.
 
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skoshkie

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Thanks for the help everyone. I'll take her to the vet ASAP.
 
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skoshkie

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We just visited the vet, and she tested negative for worms, but had buildup in her anal glands. He released the glands, so she should be ok. Thanks again for the help everyone!
 

zissou'smom

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Originally Posted by skoshkie

We just visited the vet, and she tested negative for worms, but had buildup in her anal glands. He released the glands, so she should be ok. Thanks again for the help everyone!
Yay! I'm glad everything was a happy ending, and I bet she feels much better now.
 
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skoshkie

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Even after taking our cat to the vet and having her anal glands released, we have still been finding blood near her food bowl and seen her dragging her butt. It seems that the blood starts as dry little black specks that don't seem like blood at first. But we figured out that we only see liquid blood near the food bowl because that is the place the specks can become wet and be seen most clearly. I also now know for certain that the source of the specks/blood is her butt.

Anyone have any idea what's causing this? The vet said she doesn't have worms or any other problems he can see, yet this has been a persistent problem for the past couple of weeks.
 

jen

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Ok I have an idea... my one cat, a himalayan with a completely flat face has a lot of brown drainage from his eyes. If your cat ever has brownish discharge from her eyes or anything similar, flat faced or not, I always seem to find little droplets of what looks like dried blood, but it is actually when he shaked his head and looks down to eat over the bowl. The eye drainage splatters on the ground.

It took me awhile to figure out that it was his eye goop and not blood, looks very similar, the discharge is a little more brownish but very close anyway.

As for dragging the butt, it could have been bc of the anal glands, but since that was taken care of, you might want to deworm her anyways. I have had many cats with worms who test negative on the fecal.
 

krispie

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There is a strong possibility it could be from fleas. When the flea dirt gets wet, it looks like( or is, not really sure) blood. That's all I can think of.
 

jen

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hmm that too! Good thinking. around the food bowl would make sense too bc the cat is there for awhile and the flea dirt may fall off.

OP- pour a decent amount of water over the area that the cat eats where the colored specks are, if you see a lot more red blood specks, then its fleas for sure.
 
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skoshkie

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I really don't think it could be fleas because I brush her with a flea comb several times a day and have never seen a single flea on her. Plus, I put a wet paper towel on her butt and rubbed it around a bit and I found several of those same specks, which turned into blood when they got wet, when I just rubbed it once Also, sometimes the blood spots are bigger than just a speck and quite clearly blood.
 

jen

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Turning to blood though when they get wet... that is fleas...

Try this put her on the whitest surface in your house. Run the flea comb down ehr back a few times or even run your fingers down her back, stand her up on her hind legs and do this. Any flakes or pieces that fall on the ground, pour water on them. If they turn bloody red or dark red that IS flea dirt. She might not have too many, but it sounds like they are there.
 
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skoshkie

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I'll try that test when I get home and I'll let you know.

Maybe she has an unrelated problem with her butt, as she continues to drag it around.
 

zissou'smom

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In many cases fleas=worms too. Fleas are the carriers of worms. Which explains rubbing her butt on the carpet-- if her anal glands have been expressed that's really one of the only remaining options that wouldn't be causing lots of other symptoms too.

I agree, that the specks are flea dirt. What flea dirt is, is dried blood excreted by the fleas (poop, yes, but it's mainly blood the way earthworms' poo is mainly dirt) so it is exactly what you described, brown flakes that turn red when wet exactly like if you get a scab in the sink.

The rear, like the spot where their tail muscle is on their back, is one of the places fleas really love.
 
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skoshkie

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If it is fleas, what treatment do you all recommend?

Also, I saw a thread talking about how tapeworms are sometimes missed by the vet. Would it be wise to just treat her for tapeworms as a precaution? And, if so, should I treat her for fleas first, and then for worms, or vice versa? Or is it ok to treat for both at the same time (I wouldn't want to overwhelm her system with too much medication at once).

Thanks!
 
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