Stomach or anal gland issues?

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bugmankeith

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This has been going on with my female cat for over a year. More often than not she will defecate and have bloody mucus on her rectum, it will be swollen and red and she scoots across the floor, light brown gunk will be on her rectum after. Sometimes stools can be loose or normal when it happens, had normal stools with bloody mucus on them once in a while and even going out of the litterbox.

I have given probiotics and cat grass in case of constipation, diet is the same, been to the vet and tested for stomach issues and parasites negative results, vet never mentioned anything about anal glands so they have never been expressed .

I'm not sure of this is stomach or anal gland related?
 
stephenq

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bugmankeith said:
This has been going on with my female cat for over a year. More often than not she will defecate and have bloody mucus on her rectum, it will be swollen and red and she scoots across the floor, light brown gunk will be on her rectum after. Sometimes stools can be loose or normal when it happens, had normal stools with bloody mucus on them once in a while and even going out of the litterbox.

I have given probiotics and cat grass in case of constipation, diet is the same, been to the vet and tested for stomach issues and parasites negative results, vet never mentioned anything about anal glands so they have never been expressed .

I'm not sure of this is stomach or anal gland related?
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Hey there,

2 thoughts:

- in house fecal float tests can easily give false negative results, the only way to be sure is to send the test out for a "PCR" test.  Was this done?  Because bloody mucus in the stool is a very common symptom for parasites.  If the hest was a fecal float i would ask for a PCR test.

Scooting does suggest an anal gland issue, more common with loose stools and its the pressure of the normal stool that expresses the glands.

But there is no rule that a cat can only have one thing wrong, so it could be glands and parasites.
 
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bugmankeith

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StephenQ said:
Hey there,
2 thoughts:
- in house fecal float tests can easily give false negative results, the only way to be sure is to send the test out for a "PCR" test.  Was this done?  Because bloody mucus in the stool is a very common symptom for parasites.  If the hest was a fecal float i would ask for a PCR test.

Scooting does suggest an anal gland issue, more common with loose stools and its the pressure of the normal stool that expresses the glands.

But there is no rule that a cat can only have one thing wrong, so it could be glands and parasites.
Click to expand...
No vet ever went further than fecal flotation test, I didn't know there was another option even or if my vet even offers it, I can ask. Is is costly and how quick are results usually? Usually I would take a fecal sample right after she went in the litterbox and try to get it with as little litter on it as possible.
She is on revolution which can kill parasites, would this affect test results? Also on probiotic.


While googling her symptoms also matched Tritrichomonas foetus, could it be that, I told my vet everything and nobody ever mentions this stuff to me and I've tried 3 vets!

She was an outside stray first two years of her life so anything is possible and this had been an issue all her life I just thought she had a nervous stomach.
 
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denice

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A lot of vets don't think of T foetus, it's common in cattle but only recently has started showing up in cats.  It's found with the PCR test.  I don't know about costs or how long it takes, I do know there are only a few labs that check for it.  It used to only be done at Texas A.M.  There is a special way of getting a sample because it can't be taken out of litter.  With the PCR test that can look for all possible parasites.  I know the test is more accurate if it is taken while the cat has diarrhea.

I don't know if this is something with parasites but all parasites do need to be ruled out.
 
stephenq

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bugmankeith said:
No vet ever went further than fecal flotation test, I didn't know there was another option even or if my vet even offers it, I can ask. Is is costly and how quick are results usually? Usually I would take a fecal sample right after she went in the litterbox and try to get it with as little litter on it as possible.
She is on revolution which can kill parasites, would this affect test results? Also on probiotic.


While googling her symptoms also matched Tritrichomonas foetus, could it be that, I told my vet everything and nobody ever mentions this stuff to me and I've tried 3 vets!

She was an outside stray first two years of her life so anything is possible and this had been an issue all her life I just thought she had a nervous stomach.
Click to expand...
Ok then a PCR needs to be run.  I don't know the cost, shouldn't be terribly expensive and cat take a few days to a week+.  If that comes back neg then I'd look at T foetus as mentioned by you and @Denice as well.  Everything you describe sounds like a parasite and float tests aren't reliable enough when the result is negative and you have symptoms.
 
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