Fresh blood on cat's stool

For about a month we started noticing blood and red mucus on top of Sophie's stool, not in her stool.

We took her to the vet for a check up for the blood issue and for blood work because I was afraid that she was anorexic and she might be anemic. Sophie is one year and about 4 months old. She has always been a fussy eater and I am currently transitioning her from Royal Canin dry food to wet food.

The blood work was pretty much ok, all in normal parameters except for:

RBC 10.15 (normal 5.00- 10.00)

MCH 11.9 (normal 16.00 - 24.00)

MPV 10.1 (normal 4.00 - 7.00)

T-prot 8.1 (normal 5.4 - 7.9)

Amy 103 (normal 370-1200)

Because our normal vet did not pay much attention to her amylase level and the blood in her stool (he gave us ranitidine), we took her to another vet who also said the low amylase level is not relevant in her case and he gave us milbemax dewormer because he suspected Sophie has blood in her stool because of worms. She was not due for a deworming until October.

For 5 days after the milbemax there was no blood, and then it started again.

So we went to the vet again. He gave me Bezo Pet which indeed is helping with her constipation, but I would say that out of three times she goes, two times we see blood.

Apart from the mild constipation she has been suffering for months, she has no other health issues and no other symptoms. She does not vomit, she is not lethargic, she does not have diarrhea (quite the opposite). Giving her Bezo Pet, more wet food and adding extra water have improved her constipation issue, but the blood is still there.

So at this point, with two different vets who don't think they should do anything until she shows more symptoms, I am searching for advice. Doing some research on my own, I am now thinking maybe it's a colitis of some sort, maybe an allergic colitis? She eats about 1/4 cup of RC dry food and as much wet food as she likes (given the fact that she only likes shredded chicken, I am feeding her Applaws, Schesir supplementary and I recently introduced Animonda vom Feinsted Select shredded and Thrive complete). She also gets junk treats from Gimpet and Vitakraft. I think I will cut out the treats, as I have been advised in my other thread. Should I go for a high fiber diet? Low fiber diet? Low residue? 

I'm sorry you're having this problem with your kitty. I really don't know what to say, but hopefully someone will come along with some help. My one suggestion is to try the herb, slippery elm bark.  Is that available in your country?

The mild but chronic constipation could be the source of the blood. Constipation can be difficult to address as the solution seems to be somewhat individual to the cat. However, there are two things that must be done. One is providing adequate moisture in the diet through wet food only (www.catinfo.org on why). Two, there are things you can give to ensure that adequate moisture is retained in the stool. Slippery elm bark has been known to help, as have Miralax. I would recommend reading through www.felineconstipation.org. It is a very comprehensive compilation of how a feline digestive system works and the causes and treatment for constipation.

My cat Angel was horribly constipated when we first got her. She would even lay on the floor to rest while she was going, and so she could pull them out. (It was so gross but the poor girl didn't have a choice.) She bled sometimes also. Running water helped her. When she discovered the fish tank had running water from the filter she drank from that. She drank a lot more and her constipation cleared up. She has a fountain now and loves it. Even though she still gets wet everytime she uses it and you can hear her drinking in the next room. lol

Do you have a fountain? It might be a good investment.

petcrazy76 said:

My cat Angel was horribly constipated when we first got her[...]
Do you have a fountain? It might be a good investment.

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I am sorry to read about Angel's problems. Sophie is not that bad - she used to go every 30 or so hours, but know she goes every 24 hours. She is not crying as much since the Bezo Pet and the extra water I add in her wet food.

I have a fountain, all my cats love it. I also have several water dishes around the house, I change the water daily. Second favorite, after the fountain, is a normal drinking glass that I forgot on the bedside table one night and it's theirs since..

I have only seen slippery elm bark as a powder, either loose or in capsules. You mix the powder with water to make a slurry which you can mix with a little wet food or syringe into her mouth.

The Thrive sounds like a good product. Some of us here also use freeze-dried meats and organ as treats and toppers. Most cats seem to love them, and they are healthy treats, being one ingredient meats or organs only.

I have googled slippery elm bark in Romanian and good news is that it is available here and it comes in powder and pills (links with photos of the product):

http://www.okazii.ro/produse-naturi...s-scoarta-pulbere-113-g-produs-sua-a121421088 Slippery elm bark powder

http://www.okazii.ro/recomandate/su...lunecos-scoarta-740-mg-100-capsule-a116858606 Slippery elm bark capsules

Could you please tell me how much should I give Sophie? The quantity per day and the period of time.

I hope with all my heart the Thrive is ok for Sophie and it's not the irritant. It's basically the healthiest thing she's eating (canned food Thrive also).

On the slippery elm bark, you could probably start with 1/8th teaspoon of the powder, mixed with a little water.  Wait for it to gel up, then mix it into her food.  You could give thiis twice a day if you want.  And you could go up to 1/4 teaspoon if you want.

That Thrive does sound like a good treat (and food)  I see it comes in other proteins other than chicken, just in case you need to try moving her away from chicken for awhile to see if that changes anything.

Did they do a fecal? Are they sure it isn't hookworms?  As that will cause a bloody stool.

Most definitely get the powder. 

Sarah Ann said:

 
Did they do a fecal? Are they sure it isn't hookworms?  As that will cause a bloody stool.

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No vet ever has considered a fecal with any of my cats (I have a different thread about my boy Harley, who used to have loose stools). I have no idea why, I would gladly present them with a stool sample. However they did give Sophie milbemax, who is effective on hookworms also.

So where we are now:

- no more Gimpet or any other treats

- still eats dry food and Applaws and Schesir wet food

These nine days I have seen blood 3 times, but really just a drop or two. I guess Gimpet was irritating her, but there is still another culprit.

I would LOVE to wean her off dry food, but she will not have any of the good stuff. My other two eat Bozita, Grau, Kattovit, Terra Felis, but she will only have the supplementary Applaws and Schesir. I am considering adding this to her wet food: http://www.zooplus.com/shop/cats/supplements_specialty_cat_food/fur_skin_supplements/155901 I have tried giving her raw chicken, she looked like she was disgusted (the other two wolfed the chicken down like they haven't eaten in days). I have read the transitioning tips on catinfo.org, not with much success now as she is very thin and I do not want to starve her.

So we went to the vet for some claw trimming and talked to him again about the blood, he gave us sulfalazine. I feel right now that I am the one giving diagnosis and the vet just goes along with what I say. He is not at all worried and I do not know if I should give the sulfalazine to her now as she seems to be better and I want to work more on her diet.

Oh, just one more thing: my bf suspects the Thrive now. My common sense tells no way it could be the healthiest thing she's eating. My common sense tells me that her system has had enough dry food, that maybe she's developing some deficiences from eating more than 20% supplementary (even if her blood work is pretty much ok), but bf has a point that the blood issue amplified when feeding Thrive (wet food).

That supplement sounds good.  I give one of my cats something very similar, added to his raw meat.  IF she likes it, you might be able to sprinkle it on raw chicken too and she might decide it's ok to eat after all

I cannot pull up a complete list of ingredients of Thrive canned foods.  When looking up, say,,their chicken, all it says is "chicken breast".  Elsewhere it says it's "complete, and wheat free and gluten free", but what else is in it?  (I don't mean the vitamins and such, but is there anything in there that could be suspect as far as causing irritation?)

BTW, she should only be eating 15% or less of supplementary food over an extended period of time.  Darn these picky cats

The Thrive description is 100% chicken 0 % nonsense, which makes it a marketing hit. On the can it only says "Fresh chicken raised without the use of antibiotics and hormones" and it gives the list of vitamins and minerals. And on their site: no anti-oxidants, no preservatives, no fillers, no added colours, no added sugars, no artificial flavours. I guess it must be too healthy for her

That 15% worry me greatly, she is now eating more than 20% supplementary. I will give her some vitamins until the order from zooplus arrives.

But let me tell you how I am starting to believe I am crazy: noticing that Sophie was particularly hungry this morning, I thought I should give Bozita another try. And there she was, my special cat, eating two full soup spoons of Bozita chicken in gravy, food she had previously turned down on several occasions. I had to sprinkle some dry freezed Thrive treats, but she licked the first portion so I gave her another spoon and she ate that also. Fussy cat drives mommy insane. She is so unpredictable. Given the fact that today is my birthday, I take that as a present.  

Happy Birthday .  Yes, maybe she was giving her Mama a present!  But whatever, just enjoy it while it lasts .  Cats are SO unpredictable.  My little miss picky ate 1.7 oz yesterday for breakfast, then today she only ate .75, so I know EXACTLY where you are coming from .  I just bought 20 cans yesterday of what she ate for breakfast, and now she is already turning her nose up at it   So....we just keep plugging away.  I've even COOKED homemade meals for my little one, and although the boys love it, SHE doesn't  

Two weeks update:

Sophie has received Sulfasalazine for about 7 days. I did not respect the treatment the vet gave us (1/4 tablet twice a day for 10 days) because it seemed to constipate her more, but she did fine with 1/4 tablet a day for 7 days, no blood, and with the Bezo Pet, no straining in the litterbox. A few days later she was still fine, until this morning when we found blood again on her stool and on her bum.

As scared and disappointed as I am right now, she has a healthy appetite, or at least she eats more than she did this summer. She is full of energy and she seems pretty happy, with tail straight up and always in the mood for cuddles or for play. She chases the laser every evening so definitely not lethargic. She even eats Bozita chicken and turkey and Animonda exotic kangaroo, proteins and textures she would not have tried a few months ago (I guess she had enough Applaws and is willing to try different stuff).

So at this point I am thinking I did her wrong with:

1. not following through with the Sulfasalazine

2. introducing Bozita and Animonda too soon one after another and maybe it upset her GI 

Of course I will take her to the vet again, but I am guessing he'll just throw some more pills to take, but I want so much to treat the cause, not the symptom...

The slippery elm bark has finally arrived last night, I am thinking of starting with 1/2 capsule a day. Is it ok? (I am not good with the teaspoon measurement, but I guess 1/2 of a capsule is about 1/8 of a teaspoon?)

I don't know on the measurement, because I don't know the size of the capsule.  Maybe @stephanietx will be able to help you, since she has used it before, although I think she buys the powder form.  What brand did you buy, so maybe she can look it up and get an idea of the size capsule.

Here's the info on Slippery Elm Bark.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/262185/slippery-elm-bark-is-helping-mazy-so-much

Thank you both for your replies.

I have already read that thread, and mrsgreenjeens told me earlier in this thread to start with 1/8 teaspoon, I am just so bad in measuring with the teaspoon We measure in grams, or milligrams, so that's why I am double checking. 

So this is the brand I bought, Puritan's Pride, 370 MG capsules http://www.magazinul-dvs.com/produs/ulm-alunecos/503 (under the photo is written 740 MG/ 2 capsules)

780 mg equals 1/8th teaspoon . (at least that's what  my internet search told me)  Does that help out?   And even though the capsule says it's 340 mg, that doesn't mean you needs two capsules...I can't explain it, but it's like when you get a medication, you might have a pill that has 1000 mg in a tiny pill.  Anyway, I actually opened up one of my 1 inch probiotics (since the Puritans Pride capsules say that are 1 inch) and poured it out into a 1/4 teaspoon and it fit perfectly.  That means 1/2 a capsule is 1/8th teaspoon.  You were right all along

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
780 mg equals 1/8th teaspoon

. (at least that's what  my internet search told me)  Does that help out?   And even though the capsule says it's 340 mg, that doesn't mean you needs two capsules...I can't explain it, but it's like when you get a medication, you might have a pill that has 1000 mg in a tiny pill.  Anyway, I actually opened up one of my 1 inch probiotics (since the Puritans Pride capsules say that are 1 inch) and poured it out into a 1/4 teaspoon and it fit perfectly.  That means 1/2 a capsule is 1/8th teaspoon.  You were right all along

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Thank you very much!