7 month old with bloody stool

I have a 7 month old kitten with bloody stool. He's been having GI issues about a month after I brought him home from the shelter. I took him to the vet and he has been treated for Giardia. He was cleared of that and has no other parasites or worms. My vet suggested we put him on a special GI diet. He was on a course of meds to help his stool firm up as well. Just recently his stool has started turning soft again and is extremely smelly. I'm concerned something else could be wrong with him and my vet doesn't know. I'm hoping someone here could provide insight so I could talk to my vet about it. 

Is the blood bright red or is the stool black?   This is an indicator of where in the GI tract the blood could be coming from.

What are you feeding him?

What meds is he on at this time?

Is he going outside the box?

Bloody stool is a definite sign that something is up and it's not something that should be easily dismissed. My cat Freya, around six or seven months, started having bloody stool and going outside the box, so I understand what you're going through. I would call your vet, or if you're concerned that your vet might not be making the proper diagnosis perhaps try a second opinion, and schedule another appointment as soon as you can afford one. Collect a sample of the bloody stool in a ziploc baggy the day prior, or whenever you have the ability to, and give it to the vet for analysis. Sometimes this can help them figure out what's going. At the time, the bloody foul-smelling stool Freya was having was a result of bacterial infections and, ultimately, a starting sign of FIP. I'm not saying your baby has that at all, but just saying that it's important for you to do what you feel is best for your baby.

The blood is bright in color and his poo is also a very light brown. The vet put him on Royal Canin GI High Energy dry food. I believe the med she gave him was Metronidazole, but he's not on any medication as of now.

He's never pooped outside of his litter box, but I do have to keep my bath rugs off the floor or else he'll pee on them. I clean his box everyday. His butt is very smelly. I've seen him clean it, but I can't tell if he's not doing a good enough job or if it could be a sign about his problem.

The thought of him having FIP is devastating. He is my world. He was taken from his mom to soon, and at the shelter for a very short time, so he's very attached to me. Even as I type this he's meowing and crawling all over me. :-)
 

Bloody loose stool is a listed possible side effect of metronidazole. How long ago did you stop it?

If it were me, I would find a different vet. I would not be feeding a male cat dry food under any circumstances. The other suggestion I would make is to provide your cat with probiotics for now in order to re-establish the good bacteria in his gut which were killed off by the metro. I don't have a favorite but some here have said human probiotics are better than the ones sold in pet shops. Do a search on probiotics here and you should get a lot of info on which ones are recommended.

He stopped the metronidazole about a month ago. I'll look into getting him some probiotics. Why would you not be feeding him dry food? He was on a wet food diet for the first 7 days of switching to the Royal Canin food and his stool looked best then, but it's expensive to keep him on that diet and I don't have that kind of money.

Don't worry, I'm sure it's not FIP but just be aware that it could be an underlying symptom of something that the vet may not be picking up or seeing. I would definitely collect a sample of the stool (it's easier if you use a plastic spoon so you can throw it away, once you have plenty of sample in your baggy), and schedule another visit as soon as affordable with another vet. Write down all the kitties symptoms, medicines, and procedures you've done in the past to treat this issue (or any other major health issues) that way the new vet can get as clear a picture as they can of the baby's medical history. It probably wouldn't hurt to write down his food brand, too. When you set up the appointment, let them know that you are needing them as a second opinion for a medical condition that's been going on and you're trying to help your vet diagnosis an issue with your baby.

Look at the ingredient list on the royal canin. Probably you will see corn near the top. Grains are not a good idea for cats especially with GI issues. 2 ways to save on food is get larger cans and look at chewy.com. The small 3 oz cans work out much more expensive than large 12 ounce cans.