Blood in poop...?

bluebo · Nov 12, 2012

My cat Bo has had an ongoing issue since I got him 2.5 years ago- Blood in his feces.
He has been tested thoroughly and the vets keep coming to the conclusion that he is constipated.
I recently switched him to wet food (about 3-4 weeks ago) and his poop has been great. THEN- today I noticed a couple spots of red blood in his poop.
Sorry to be descriptive but I must-- his poop looked normal but still a bit dry. The end of it looked like clay or play dough and was a bit off color (an almost greyish brown color). There is some blood on it... *sigh
He does not have diarrhea. I would say it looks more dry, like constipation.
I have NO IDEA how he would have dry poop! He has been eating nothing but wet !
Please if someone has an idea, let me know.

the_food_lady · Nov 12, 2012

How old is your kitty? I ask because in senior cats there can be underlying health issues that cause them to become dehydrated which can then lead to constipation.

If your cat will let you, add a little water to the canned food you feed. I do that for all of my cats as I have a mix of younger and older cats and the extra fluids are good for the old girls' kidneys. I just add a bit of water, not enough to make the canned food "soupy" but just enough to make it a little more liquidy....then I warm up in the microwave for long enough to make food just "warm" (test it to ensure not too hot)...then mix up. The added fluid is good.

What kind of canned food do you feed and how often? Twice a day is best if you can.

Does kitty still get any dry food and if so, what type?

bluebo · Nov 12, 2012

the_food_lady said:
How old is your kitty? I ask because in senior cats there can be underlying health issues that cause them to become dehydrated which can then lead to constipation.

If your cat will let you, add a little water to the canned food you feed. I do that for all of my cats as I have a mix of younger and older cats and the extra fluids are good for the old girls' kidneys. I just add a bit of water, not enough to make the canned food "soupy" but just enough to make it a little more liquidy....then I warm up in the microwave for long enough to make food just "warm" (test it to ensure not too hot)...then mix up. The added fluid is good.

What kind of canned food do you feed and how often? Twice a day is best if you can.

Does kitty still get any dry food and if so, what type?

I can't say for sure how old he is, as he is from the local SPCA. He came in as a stray. I can say that he is approximately 7-10 years old. What underlying health issues can cause a cat to become dehydrated?
He gets no kibble whatsoever. He had a couple of Greenies 2 days ago.... don't know if that would do much?
I feed him a mix of Fancy Feast and Merricks (Turducken, Thanksgiving dinner and Grammys Pot Pie) I'm trying to broaden his horizons but he is a fussy little thing.

bluebo · Nov 13, 2012

BUMP... no one?

violet · Nov 13, 2012

Originally posted by bluebo

The end of it looked like clay or play dough and was a bit off color (an almost greyish brown color).

This definitely suggests a digestive problem.

What you describe makes me wonder about a couple of things:

Did your vet do any blood work to make sure liver and gall bladder are functioning normally?

Have you tried a completely grain-free canned diet yet?

With an older kitty, first and foremost, I would have complete blood work done to rule out any possible underlying health issues.

I would also switch to a completely grain-free canned diet. Most importantly because grains can cause constipation, plus irritation in the intestinal tract that can lead to bleeding, etc.

When I first had to deal with this issue it took us about two weeks to get the stools to look normal with the ends looking normal as well and no blood.

Since grains can cause constipation in some cats, it's important to cut out grains as a first step to see if that helps. No grains in the canned foods and absolutely no dry food. Not even for treats.

When the end doesn't look normal, one has to think of colitis. (The end looking different is one definite sign.) (In my experience) colitis is a condition that can easily be controlled by diet, by avoiding foods/ingredients that will irritate the digestive tract.

With constipation the first thing to do is avoid ingredients that can be constipating. (Unfortunately grains can cause constipation in some kitties.)

Then, depending on the results of a grain-free canned diet, if constipation continues to be a problem, certain things can be tried to get things moving easier.

bluebo · Nov 13, 2012

Violet said:
This definitely suggests a digestive problem.

What you describe makes me wonder about a couple of things:
Did your vet do any blood work to make sure liver and gall bladder are functioning normally?
Have you tried a completely grain-free canned diet yet?

With an older kitty, first and foremost, I would have complete blood work done to rule out any possible underlying health issues.

I would also switch to a completely grain-free canned diet. Most importantly because grains can cause constipation, plus irritation in the intestinal tract that can lead to bleeding, etc.

When I first had to deal with this issue it took us about two weeks to get the stools to look normal with the ends looking normal as well and no blood.

Since grains can cause constipation in some cats, it's important to cut out grains as a first step to see if that helps. No grains in the canned foods and absolutely no dry food. Not even for treats.

When the end doesn't look normal, one has to think of colitis. (The end looking different is one definite sign.) (In my experience) colitis is a condition that can easily be controlled by diet, by avoiding foods/ingredients that will irritate the digestive tract.

With constipation the first thing to do is avoid ingredients that can be constipating. (Unfortunately grains can cause constipation in some kitties.)
Then, depending on the results of a grain-free canned diet, if constipation continues to be a problem, certain things can be tried to get things moving easier.

Well right now he is being fed primarily Turducken and it is grain free. I'm not sure about the Fancy Feast that I feed but I will check it out and make sure there isn't even corn or corn gluten...
I won't be feeding him any dry (treats) for a while and we'll see how he does.
We also just started him on a dental gel. It is called Tropiclean fresh breath-- http://www.tropiclean.net/products/clean-teeth-gel.php. Would that have anything to do with it?
I feel very overwhelmed...

bluebo · Nov 13, 2012

Just looked at the ingredients in the two Fancy Feast types that I feed... one is wheat gluten and soy protein concentrate... not good. I'm eliminating those from his diet and I will not be using them again.
I've got quite a few cans of unused food.... time for a donation trip to the SPCA! LoL
He wasn't a HUGE fan of Wellness but I haven't used Wellness Core so I will try that. He also wasn't a huge fan of Addiction but I will try it again too.... I feel like I'm running out of options.

ldg · Nov 14, 2012

Hun, if he hasn't been in and out of the box, and isn't straining to go, at this point I'm really suspecting colitis, not constipation.

But the end result is the same - locating the culprits in the food. Cutting out the grains and soy are a great start. The Fancy Feast classic varieties don't have wheat gluten or soy (though they do have guar gum, which might be a problem).

Check ingredients for carrageenan - that might be a culprit.

Blood in poop...?

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