HELP! Blood and diarrhoea

Hello my kitten is 5 months old. Recently started going out a lot more. About 1 hour ago she had a liquid poo with blood in it.

She is alright in herself but always at her food bowl. She is eatting a lot more in the last few days. Dry food is down all the time and I've topped it up a lot today already.

I mix her dry food with Iams kitten and go cat. Last 3 days I have changed the go cat to lidl junior cat dry food.

I've been told to take up her food that's down and let her not eat for a bit and to watch get poop.

Any thoughts please help? A trip to the vets could be an unecessary expense or vital need but should I wait for the next poo and see.

Did you transition the food change slowly? Does your cat get wormed? Could be due to sudden change in food, or parasite

I have not wormed her. I have panacur paste I could give her. I did not transition as I thought because it is mixed it would be okay

Kitten's need to be on kitten food for their first year. 

Kittens have occassional bouts of diarrhea sometimes for no reason, but most causes are due to a change in diet or parasites. 

Ordinarily, if diarrhea continues for more than a day, or if you observe lethargy, vomiting, fever, dark-colored or bloody stools , straining to defecate, decreased appetite or unexplained weight loss, it's time to get your kitty to the vet.

Just diarrhea wouldn't alarm me so much (although, I would be concerned), but the fact that there is visible blood in the stool indicates there is something wrong going on. 

Kittens will be kittens and yours could very well have ingested something that perferated the bowel. You didn't say whether the blood was frank (fresh, bright red) which might indicate a fissure from straining trying to pass dry stool, or dark, black or tarry which could indicate a GI tract bleed.

Personally, I would hold food for 24 hours and provide plenty of fresh water - and/or give the juice/water from canned chicken (packed in water, not oil) to help flush the bowel and give his system time to settle.

In the meantime, collect a sample of the stool (preferably one that is not saturated with litter) and put it in a sealed container or zip-loc baggie (double bag it), and put it in the refrigerator (to prevent growth of bacteria) and get your kitten to the vet.

Also, write the time you collected the stool on the bag (this helps in determining any findings in the stool). 

Think about it... if you observed this in your 5 month old baby, would you spend time doing an internet search? Or would you already be at (or at least on the phone with) your Pediatrician? (sorry, I was a nurse for over 20 years and I guess I have a different way of seeing things).

Just my opinion. 

I see your point about waiting and not waiting.

The blood was fresh and in a straight line. Like a wigglely line. Why would she strain to poo if it is diarrhea?

Do you think I should worm her?

She is perfectly happy cat just that poo concerned me. And it stank!

DoraMummys said:

Hello my kitten is 5 months old. Recently started going out a lot more. About 1 hour ago she had a liquid poo with blood in it.

She is alright in herself but always at her food bowl. She is eatting a lot more in the last few days. Dry food is down all the time and I've topped it up a lot today already.

I mix her dry food with Iams kitten and go cat. Last 3 days I have changed the go cat to lidl junior cat dry food.

I've been told to take up her food that's down and let her not eat for a bit and to watch get poop.

Any thoughts please help? A trip to the vets could be an unecessary expense or vital need but should I wait for the next poo and see.

Click to expand...

Bloody diarrhea is a sign of parasites amongst other things.   I would bring her and a stool sample to your vet as soon as possible.

Straining could be due to a couple things.

With diarrhea, there could be some cramping and she might be 'holding back' or intermittently 'clamping off' and letting only small amounts come out at a time because her belly hurts; not necessarily straining or trying to push it out. If she has had previous hard or difficult stools and she strained, she could have developed fissures (small tears in her rectum) that are bleeding when she poops. These can be painful even when just passing a liquid stool which would cause her to give the appearance of straining.

What have her previous poops looked like? Where there any hard or dry nuggets prior to her diarrhea? She might be constipated or becoming impacted. If there is a build-up of stool that is slow-moving or not moving down at all, any liquid stool behind it will ooze around it and present itself as diarrhea. Think of it as plugging a hole in a dam with a wad of bubblegum and then seeing water leak around the plug.

Is her belly distended and/or does she show signs of pain when you lightly palpate her abdomen? This is usually a sign of parasites. 

It is especially important to get immediate treatment for a kitten with parasites because they can lose weight and become anemic quite quickly. Depending on the type of parasite and the amount, the intestine can become inflamed because some parasites will burrow into the intestine causing blood loss. 

Regardless of the reason your kitten is showing the symptoms she is, it is my opinion to get her vetted as soon as possible. If you do collect a stool sample, please, wear gloves and wash your hands well with warm, soapy water! Also, wash any surfaces (including rugs, blankets, bedding) that your kitten might have deposited 'drippings'. 

We can guess and surmise all we want, but accurate diagnosis and treatment can only be done by a vet! At 5 months she is more than ready to start her vaccines if you haven't already done this, and get her dewormed! Also,scheduled for spaying while you are there!

Keep us posted!

At her age she should have been wormed twice already. But I would not do it now without a vet visit or at least a stool sample analysis, as you could do more harm than good. My bet is on a parasite - giardia or coccidia are possible, as well as the 'normal' roundworms that all kittens have. HAs she been treated for fleas? They can cause tapeworms.