Bleeding from the butt

missmyra

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Hi Everyone,
I hope someone can give me an idea of what might be causing this: my cat seems to be bleeding from her butt. After she has been sitting on something for a while there is a stain that looks like watery blood. This just started last night after I went to bed and just noticed it this morning. I started giving her a new food recently, that new one in the packets, that looks like dark tuna fish, so I'm wondering if she ate a bone that went through her bowels.
Also there was watery blood outside her litterbox.
Any input or experience with this is greatly appreciated.
Myra
 

mai_kitties

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I would be calling your vet right away.

I do know that dark red blood can indicate an internal bleeding issue and that can be very dangerous for a cat.

Bright red blood can mean that there is an issue in the lower intestinal tract. Constipation is a major cause of this.

Can you tell if the blood is dark or bright?

In your case it sounds like the blood is just leaking out and that would be cause for concern in my eyes. Has she had a bowel movement recently with the water blood on it?
 

yosemite

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Miss Myra - the only advice we non-vets can give you is to get your cat to a vet at the earliest possible appointment you can get. It could be many things, some of which could be lethal.

If you were bleeding from the butt I'm certain you would have been at the emergency room of your local hospital by now and we should do no less for our animals.
 
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missmyra

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I know it could be serious, but she is behaving normally otherwise, energetic, big appetite, etc. I think it must have something to do with the new food. However I am going to get her to the vet as soon as possible without jeopardizing my employment. I'd like to mention that previously this forum has given me better input than the vet, so please keep the responses coming.
Thank you!
Myra
 

snake_lady

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Does she have diarrhea or is constipated at all?

One of my kittens had diarrhea a while back, and had tinges of blood (light coloured) on his butt, the floor and in his watery poo. It went away when the diarrhea when away. (Kinda like me with I have IBS issues
)

Can cats get anal fissures


As per usual, if concerned, give your vet a call and describe to them what is happening and see if you can get their opinion over the phone as to whether she needs to be seen now.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by MissMyra

I know it could be serious, but she is behaving normally otherwise, energetic, big appetite, etc. I think it must have something to do with the new food. However I am going to get her to the vet as soon as possible without jeopardizing my employment. I'd like to mention that previously this forum has given me better input than the vet, so please keep the responses coming.
Thank you!
Myra
What is the name of the new food? I'm assuming it is wet if it is in a packet, if not, did you introduce it gradually over the period of about a week? Do you have any of the previous food to give her now? All these things may play a part. I would at least telephone the vet to see if they have any idea but most likely they will want to see the cat rather than make any diagnosis over the phone.
 
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missmyra

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Snake Lady,
Yes I do recall that yesterday she pooped out two small, very dark bits of poo, which is not like her at all, and it looked dry and like constipation poo. I think it must be this new food, in the foil packets, it looks like scraps of tuna and snapper and so forth. I don't give her any dry food. She is diabetic and can't tolerate the carbs. Also I should mention she is about 17 years old and I have taken excellent care of her for her entire life, she even has pet insurance. I'm going to get her to a vet as soon as possible but like I said, this board has been priceless to me.
Thanks so much for the feedback! Keep it coming!
Myra
 
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missmyra

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I just called the vet and they can't see her til tomorrow, but the girl who answered the phone said it could be a ruptured anal gland which is not a serious condition. Anyone have experience with this?
Thank you!
Myra
 

carolina

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she is 17, diabetic, eats only wet food, no diarrhea, and bleeding from her butt... This screams go to the vet ASAP.
Is your vet open after your work hours? IMO you should take her in today... Yes, TCS is a great board, but IMO this could be serious stuff, especially in a 17 yr old who is diabetic... There is really no better advice than asking you to go see a doctor ASAP...
Good Luck!
 

mrblanche

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And it COULD be a severe UTI, also. In that close proximity, it may be hard to tell.
 

mai_kitties

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Originally Posted by MissMyra

I'd like to mention that previously this forum has given me better input than the vet, so please keep the responses coming.
Thank you!
Myra
Yes because we are all vets here and can give you expert medical advise
.

As for the forum giving you better input than the vet, if I recall a large majority of posts tell people that they need to consult their vets. We can give you advise or ask more questions but when it comes to the health of your cat only your vet can truly help you with that.

I hope you kitty gets better and that it is nothing serious.
 
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missmyra

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Not to worry everyone, I am taking her to the vet ASAP. They have no appointments available today so she goes tomorrow. I am also calling around to see if any other vets have openings today.

In the meantime the feedback I'm getting from all of you is preparing me and giving me ideas for questions and tests that might be done. Please understand, this just started happening very late last night after I went to sleep, and since I discovered the problem this morning I have done as much as possible to help her, including posting to this forum.

Thank you all!
Myra
 

darlili

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i just wanted to add a big thank you to you for trying to get her to the vet asap - If you still have some of that food around, I'd take it in, as well as refrigerated stool samples if there are any.

I'd be a little upset with the receptionist who didn't try to get you in as early as you were able to get in without risking your employment, given the symptoms you were reporting to them. My vets' practice keeps 'emergency slots' open, as well as providing after-hours numbers for an ER office - and their front desk has told me that the vets would be furious if they didn't get acute cases in on the same day if at all possible -especially for the 'regular' clients. Good for you for checking around to see if you could get a spot earlier with another vet.

Having said that, bright red blood, while worrisome, normally isn't as dangerous a symptom as dark blood in the stool (just like with people).

Hoping all is well, though, and please update when you can.
 
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missmyra

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Thank you for the input Darlili, I was thinking about actually bringing a stool sample with me to speed along diagnosis. Also I'll bring along some of that new food. I wish I had a local vet that was more proactive. Actually this vet that I use now is better than the first vet I went to around here (Jacksonville, FL) but still not good enough. They all like to keep banker's hours around here. Yet everywhere you look, someone is walking a dog, so who is taking care of them at off hours? *sigh*
Thanks again,
Myra
 

darlili

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You know, I know what you mean about vets' hours. I think I was really lucky with mine, and it's a large practice (6 vets) so they can take turns, which probably helps. They also have a 7:00 am 'drop off' service, for those who can't manage an appointment between 9:00 and 7:00 (when the vets are there)...not ideal, but lots of people don't have super-flexible jobs.

I've got to admit I once took some Trader Joe treats into the office, after they had been super about getting my girl in for a possible eye scratch right away.....I really did appreciate their help, and figured it couldn't hurt to have the front desk staff think I'm 'nice'.

But zillions of cats and dogs in my areas, and a lot of the vets don't have Sunday or Saturday hours....don't get it.

I'm just a paranoid mommy - I've dragged in food bags, stool samples, and just about anything else I could think of - sometimes it's useful, sometimes they just toss, but I figure, better to have it there just in case.
 

kody's mom

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Kody (just turned 4) has had this same problem. I was absolutely terrified. Kody's started last September during the hurricane when our power was out for 9 days, and I had to change him from his normal food (raw, which was not available with the power outage). Us walking around with flashlights, and being in not too good moods, I am sure stressed him out, too.

I took him to the vet, who very calmly told me stress, or the change in food was probably what was causing the problem. He said to put him on metronidazole and a small dose of prednisone for 10 days. He thought this would take care of the problem.

I was very worried, as we had just gotten Kody 5 months before, and when I started researching about bengals, I came across several sites that talked about Irritable Bowel Disease. As he could see I was so upset, he said he could also do an endoscope to make sure there was not a further problem. They kept Kody overnight, gave him two enemas(don't even want to know how they accomplished that), and did the "colonoscopy." The vet said there was a little irritation which they did a biopsy of & thank God, it was nothing.

The metronidazole and prednisone did take care of the bleeding, but then a month or so later the same thing happened. He took both the medicines again.

Anyway to make a long story a little shorter--my vet has said that Kody just has a very , very sensitive stomach. He has taken one more round of the metronidazole (but no prednisone) and has been fine since. HIs usual diet consists of mainly raw and alittle bit of Taste of the Wild (a grain-free kibble). I used to give him just a little bit--probably about 1 1/2 ounces-- of different canned or pouched food, so if I was unable to get the raw for some reason I had an alternative. But after several incidences of a drops of blood the next day, I have cut out any canned or pouches. I'm sure it was just certain ingredients in certain ones, but it is easier to just cut them out. In an emergency Kody can just eat the Taste of the Wild.

I won't say I did not get a sick feeling every time I saw any blood. I read about a young bengal that died from the bleeding from IBD. And of course, MissMyra needs to get her kitty to the vet, but I have found in my "research" that the blood can be a common reaction to a food change and/or stress. Before the endoscope my vet also mentioned that cats can develop hemmoroids that get irritated and flare up at times.

I usually don't take exception at someone's posts (sorry, Linda), but the comment about someone taking themselves to the emergency room is ridiculous. I know people with hemmoroids(sp?) that have fresh blood on many occassions and don't rush to the doctor, much less the emergency room.

Please let us know what the vet does say.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Kody's Mom

I usually don't take exception at someone's posts, but the comment about someone taking themselves to the emergency room is ridiculous. I know people with hemmoroids(sp?) that have fresh blood on many occassions and don't rush to the doctor, much less the emergency room.

Please let us know what the vet does say.
Since I was the one that made that comment, I'll respond to it. Humans would be very much aware if they had hemorroids so you are right, the persons you know with hemorroids woud not constitute blood as an emergency. But, if you didn't know you had hemorroids (no protrusions or pain/discomfort) and you suddenly noticed bleeding on your underwear, had no idea why (as this poster did not and does not know what is causing the bleeding in her cat), then that human would either go directly to their doctor or an emergency room. After all, bleeding from the anus could well be colon cancer in a human. It certainly is not normal to bleed from the anus, at least IMO.

My point is that if there is obviously a problem (which bleeding would certainly indicate) then see a vet (or a doctor for a human). We have no vets on this board and that is why we recommend any poster with a health issue in their pet go to the vet, sooner rather than later.

We can all play nice and make guesses as to what may or may not be wrong with the kitty, but until a vet sees the cat and makes a firm diagnosis, she will not know what is wrong with the cat.

ETA: I see you are a relatively new member so are probably unaware that here at TCS you will often find we get very passionate about the health of animals.
 
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missmyra

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Kody's Mom: I agree about the human butt bleeding - not an emergency room issue, unless it's really flowing out of there heavily! If it's not something "normal" you'd still have to make an appointment with a GP who would not tell you to go to an ER, in my opinion. Even if it's colon cancer, one more day isn't going to make much of an impact on the outcome. However if I had the kind of job where I could take her immediately to a vet that could see her right away I would do it. And another thing: if I hadn't recently added a new food to her diet, I'd be much more worried. She eats this new food ravenously, it's like kitty crack, so I was going to stop when I ran out of it anyway. She does have a very sensitive stomach. Not sure if that's related to the diabetes.
Thanks for alleviating some of the guilt!

Myra
 

yosemite

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I just want to clarify here. If we are doing everything we can possibly do for our pets, that is all one can expect. After so many years here, I suppose I tend to be a bit cynical. Over the years there have been folks who come to this board and ask for help, then when they are given advice or told their pet is sick and needs to see a vet, they get upset and argue that they cannot get in even to an emergency vet, can't afford it, or some other excuse while that dear animal is suffering. I cannot stress enough how upset and angry that makes me.

What bothers me most is the poster that comes, says their pet has been really sick for a week, do we know what is wrong with it, no they haven't been to a vet, they are instead wasting precious time sitting at their computer asking for online help instead of taking the cat to a vet. Even if any of us here have experienced a similar situation, that is no guarantee that the same thing is wrong with their pet and that is why we stress so often that you NEED to take your pet to a vet.

Now, to also clear up another point, I am NOT saying the OP is one of these people but it is those people who have perhaps made some of us much too cynical and if my cynicism has put you off, I apologize for that but I do not apologize for caring deeply about these animals. I would ask that perhaps you try to understand how we feel after reviewing dozens and dozens of those types of posts just as we try to understand the horrific decisions the folks here who work in rescue have to make on a daily basis.
 

dusty's mom

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

I just want to clarify here. If we are doing everything we can possibly do for our pets, that is all one can expect. After so many years here, I suppose I tend to be a bit cynical. Over the years there have been folks who come to this board and ask for help, then when they are given advice or told their pet is sick and needs to see a vet, they get upset and argue that they cannot get in even to an emergency vet, can't afford it, or some other excuse while that dear animal is suffering. I cannot stress enough how upset and angry that makes me.

What bothers me most is the poster that comes, says their pet has been really sick for a week, do we know what is wrong with it, no they haven't been to a vet, they are instead wasting precious time sitting at their computer asking for online help instead of taking the cat to a vet. Even if any of us here have experienced a similar situation, that is no guarantee that the same thing is wrong with their pet and that is why we stress so often that you NEED to take your pet to a vet.

Now, to also clear up another point, I am NOT saying the OP is one of these people but it is those people who have perhaps made some of us much too cynical and if my cynicism has put you off, I apologize for that but I do not apologize for caring deeply about these animals. I would ask that perhaps you try to understand how we feel after reviewing dozens and dozens of those types of posts just as we try to understand the horrific decisions the folks here who work in rescue have to make on a daily basis.
I completely agree with you. It is one thing to come here and ask for advice on behavior issues, and other non-emergency things like fleas. But if your animal is ill or shows signs of pain, then for pete's sake see a vet.

I know times are tough. My husband lost his job too. But if you can't afford to see a vet, then you can't afford to keep the animal(s). Just like your human child, pets are a commitment and they do require periodic health care. People need to be aware of that when they decide to adopt.

MissMyra sounds like a very sensible and caring kitty mom, and I am sure she will take good care of her baby. My comments are not directed at her whatsoever. I am only agreeing that so many come here with an emergency situation and get defensive when we say that the animal needs to be seen by a vet.
 
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