Bloody stool

I'm very worried about my kitty Last night Alex spent some time separated by about an hour trying to hack something up. I assumed it was a hairball and didn't think too terribly much of it, being that it was 4 am. I just felt bad for the poor guy. This evening one of them (can't be sure who because they were both over there, but I think it was him) had a particularly smelly poo. He never really got the idea of covering it up well with the litter (usually scrapes at the outside or the air), so I went over to toss some litter over the stinky mess and I noticed blood on top of it. It's bright red, not dark or tarry, and it appears to just be on the very top, although I haven't investigated further. Could the two occurrences be related?? I am certainly most concerned about the bloody stool, what could that mean? Do I need an emergency vet visit this evening??

Both Alex and Evie have had all of their tests and shots, are neutered/spayed and have always been in good health. They are indoor cats and were adopted together. Alex is about 1.5 years and Evie is a bit older by about two months.

First, if he is acting OK other than the hacking, I don't think it is an emergency.

If the hacking is a hairball he may also have hair in his feces which can cause irritation in the intestines and cause a bit of blood to show up in the feces. My vet says a bit of blood isn't anything to get excited about but if it continues you need to figure out what the cause is.

To prevent hairballs be sure to keep him brushed.

Captain had blood in his stool like you described about a year ago. The vet said he had an irritation and to keep an eye on his behavior and the amount of blood. If it got worse or he stopped eating, hiding , just behaving out of the ordinary to bring him in. Eventually, the blood got less and then no more. I hope your guy feels better soon

Blood in the stool in the way you describe is colitis. Unfortunately, there are so many possible causes that it's difficult for anyone but a vet to diagnose. Common causes include worms, eating something toxic, food allergies, stress, giardia, salmonella.

I would take the cat to a vet, at least to have a test for worms.