New kitten has with bloody stools?!

I just got two male bengal kittens. We've had them two weeks now. I just saw one of them use the litter box and noticed red in it. Upon closer inspection I discovered what appeared to be bloody mucous around the stool. He acts and plays fine. I'm taking him into the vet ASAP but I'm curious now. Is this possibly an indication of feline cancer?

It is good you are getting the little boy in to the vet and he can best answer your questions about this, but my ~guess~ is that it probably isn't cancer. Kittens can and oftentimes do have little digestive upsets, parasites or sometimes even hard stool that can cause a little blood and/or mucous. I'm sure they asked you to bring a stool sample with to the appointment. They'll be able to isolate the problem, if any, and treat it appropriately. You might consider testing for FeLk unless the breeder you got them from already had that done.

Let us know, OK?

My best to you,

Gaye

We just got back from the vet. He just has coccidiosis. It's a protozoa infection in the digestive track. The vet said it probably came from the breeder and that it's common. We just have to give them medicine for 7 days and they both will be fine.

This was my suspicion, but of course, I am not a vet and always advise people take the pet in to the vet ... the medicine may give your baby a little stomach upset so if you have any live-culture plain yogurt around, give him a little taste to restore the digestive flora a couple of times per day. It will help.

One thing I did want to address here is that this type of thing doesn't always reflect badly on the breeder ... it is VERY common and while the breeder should have caught it, sometimes it isn't easy to catch.

Glad everything is OK and that this was an easy problem to fix.

Best of luck with your Bengal babies! Oh, and you know ... we LOVE baby pictures!!

Gaye

Thanks for the yogurt tip. So far it hasn't bothered them but the yogurt can't hurt either.

I've got pictures but I don't know how to post them in the reply.

I had 3 fosters with coccidia and they had a bad case of it. You often have to repeat the treatment with a week or 2 off in between. I don't know a lot about it, but the coccidia parasite is cyclical and usually needs treatment spaced apart or it comes back. Talk to your vet about this.

The yogurt will restore some of the imbalance from the medicine, but if they are young, only give them a little bit - like less than a teaspoon a day and use plain yogurt.

Good luck!! This is something very treatable but you need to stay on top of the treatment.

My cats had this problem also, and I was told to change their litter every day because the coccidia is transmitted in their stool. If you don't change their litter it just reinfects them every time they step into poo then clean their paws.

When we got home yesterday from the vets we emptied all the litter, cleaned and disinfected the pans, and filled them with clean litter. Since they're on the medication do we still need totally new litter everyday? We've been cleaning out the stools and urine clumps constantly. Is that still not enough.

I kept a spare litter box and swapped them out each day. The used one was emptied and disinfected each day while they were on their treatment. You don't need to keep a lot of litter in the pan so don't be concerned about wasting too much of it. Scoop out often and change entirely daily.

Hi ya!!! We also have two Bengal boys As it turns out, from some research I found that Bengals often have digestive issues, and it's a matter of finding a good quality food that doesn't upset their tummies and sticking to it.

Did you figure out how to get some photos up yet?

I had my first go at posting pics last week. And if I can do it anyone can. It didn't take long to work it out if you follow the instructions here http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14474.
I printed it out so I could do it and follow the instructions at the same time. It tells you how to make yourself a signature as well.

Let's see those babies!

Well, here it is more than seven days and $400 later and our one poor little baby is still fighting runny poo.

We took them both to the vet on Friday for a one week follow up appointment. They also received some of their usual kitten shots, too. The silver boy, Keiko, never has shown any signs and all tests came back normal. The golden boy, Mikado, however, tested negative for both coccidiosis and girardia -- yet continues to produce mostly brown liquid with traces of blood. His stools were more 'formed' a couple of days ago and now it seems he is backsliding.

The vet prescribed more medicine just for Mikado this week and said to call him back on Monday if his stools are still runny. We have been giving them each a teaspoon of plain yogurt each day -- as someone here suggested. Nonetheless, we are getting very frustrated. Poor little guy hasn't had any accidents (yet) but it can't be very fun for him either living with almost chronic diarrhea at this point.

Has anyone else gone through this and offer any suggestions? We're at our wit's end!

Hi--i do have a older siamese kitten rescue who has has sometimes bloody stools and we have fought diarrhea too. in her case she had no parasites, just an overgrowth of bacteria which is improved by finding a food and sticking to it, the changes in diet increase diarrrhea--that was the vet's recommendation and it does help. the vet said the blood was normal for difficult passing of stools at times. i've tried to use one type of good quality canned food and i give her a little slippery elm powder for the diarrhea and that does help. you can make it into a syrup too. i use a little tiny bit of vitamin c powder for stress--1/16th of a teaspoon. they do make their own but in stressful cases it is supposed to help with immune support. we also tried boiling some rice and putting a little of the thick water from the rice on her food, that helped too but i am sure it depends on the cat. good luck and take care.

Here's a link which states that treatment might have to be continued for a month: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/coccidia.html
Our local cat home had a problem with coccidia among the kittens, mainly ferals, about three or four years ago, and the vet treating them recommended putting all food and water bowls through the "intensive" cycle of the dishwasher every day (food bowls were to be changed after each meal), in addition to constantly changing the litter and disinfecting the litterboxes. Grooming can cause contamination of food or water. If I remember correctly, we were only rid of the problem after about two or three weeks of antibiotics and cleaning everything all day.

oh yes i ment to mention that too--cleaning the litter box well is very important--emptying and washing, etc.

Hey...I don't have any more advice to give, but just wanted to drop by and say I hope your babies are feeling better soon.

Well, no big changes yet. Little Mikado is still fighting the runs. We are giving both of them a teaspoon of yogurt each day to help build GOOD bacteria in their systems. We have maintained them on the same diet started by the breeder -- which is Eukanuba dry food for kittens. Then a couple of times each week I add in a spoonful of Iams soft food for kittens. That's it. We have been strict about NO people food. We give them filtered water. I have been changing their litter every day. I admit I haven't been so vigilant with their food dishes -- I guess that's the next step I'll try. Poor little Mikado has been such a good sport through all of this. I hope things straighten out SOON!

Poor babies - but it sounds like you're being a wonderful mamma and doing all you can. Hopefully Mikado just needs a bit of time.

Well, here it is April 18th -- nearly three months since my last post -- and little Mikado has NOT improved!! His "goings" are pure liquid. He is gaining weight and seems to eat and drink enough, but the chronicity of his diarrhea and now his virtual "inertia" are most concerning us.

He NEVER plays with Keiko anymore. Keiko tries to play, tackling and wrestling him, etc., but Mikado simply walks away and crawls back into his little house. When he is not asleep in there, he is following my husband or I around the house (ever so slowly, that is) and wanting us to hold him. That's his life in a nutshell: sleep, poop, wait for mom or dad to pick me up and hold me, sleep, etc.

It's heartbreaking, but we don't know what to do! A vet friend of our recommended taking him in for some bloodwork and also check for HIV and FeLV. We've already been through three rounds of antibiotics, we give him a bit of yogurt daily and have switched to Wellness kitten food.

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anne Marie

I would find a feline specialist and take him in for a second opinion. He is more than likely dehydrated, and with dehydration comes lethargic behavior, and even anemia. he needs a complete work-up so that the diarrhea can stop. You can boil up some rice for him and let it cool down and feed it to him in small amounts, but you need to get this little one in to see another vet.