Is it blood or red dye in his poo?

Well, I don't normally watch my cats go to the bathroom but Cookie (5 month old orange tabby boy) went poo right after I was done cleaning a litter box. Anyway, it was mostly solid, but the end was sorta mushy and I saw a couple streaks of reddish color. I didn't get a great look b/c he covered it up right away. Now, they mostly get a brown diet, BUT he has had some food lately that I know has red dye. Last night he had a few meow mix treats- not something I normally buy but were given to me by co-worker when she gave me the kittens, also the big boy cats have just a little bit of friskies that have red bits mixed in their food. Could these have caused what I saw? He is eating, playing and acting normal.

It was probably a bit of blood, but it is nothing to be concerned about. It just means his GI tract is a little irritated. A few drops of blood at the end of a bowel movement are not a sign of a significant problem so there is no need to worry.

I disagree because blood can mean parasites and parasites need to be handled. I would take a fecal into the vet just to be safe. It could be the food irritation as mentioned, but it could also be other things that would need to be checked out. Also you should put this cat on a better grade of food.

He has been wormed twice since we got him and flea treated. They have been indoor cats since 13 weeks. They are eating purina one kitten food, nutro max wet kitten, and snacking on the big boy cat food which is nutro max cat. There was one small box of friskies that I got for free that was mixed in to the cat's food. I think I will keep an eye on it. It's very hard to tell with four cats whose poo is whose, and unfortunately i threw that particular poo away. Now I am thinking he might have hairballs- he was doing a hacking cough tonight, so I gave him a hairball remedy. If it continues, vet time. I try to brush him regularly, and interestingly, not a lot of hair comes out compared to my other cats, but his hair is very corse and thick, but not long.. When he was smaller it was sorta fuzzy. So maybe he is injesting it and it is irritating him.

Sorry, semiferal, I have to disagree also. Blood in the stool isn't normal. Now, it might be caused by something innocuous like passing something that scratched the lower colon or rectum. And it's true that's not serious. If that's the case you shouldn't see any more blood. But if it repeats, then the cat needs to see a vet.

Yeah, I found a bit of blood in Lucy's poo, and as it turned out, I started finding tapeworm segments in it a couple days later. One pill and about a week later, and she seems to be feeling much better!

Well, no more hacking, having noticed any um, funny looking poos, but it's hard to tell! If I "catch him in the act" I will take a look again. This cat has the longest tail I have ever seen, almost as long as him!

I've heard that blood in the stool could also mean food allergies, in addition to lower GI upset, scratching or parasites. Maybe someone's not agreeing with the food being fed?

Also....just to add another suggestion....

When a cat has a bout of diarreah capularies can burst in the anus causing a bit of blood in the stool....

Not sure if the kitty might have had diarreah or not...but another thing to look into....

I am glad there is no more blood.....However because of the vast number of reasons for blood in the stool...to be safe you may wanna bring a stool sample to your vet.....