Cleopatra - Bloody stools and elevated calcium

[abby2932]

I don't know anything about elevated calcium levels but the stool issues sounds very familiar to what I was going through with my 9 year old (at the time), Malibu almost a year ago.

We had just transitioned to an all raw diet the previous year and everything was going very well until his stools suddenly became quite mucous-y and awfully foul smelling. I thought for sure that he had parasites and spent several hundred dollars having him tested for various things, trichomonas included. Everything came back negative and my vet was this close  to diagnosing him with IBD. 

I made one last ditch effort to feed him rabbit only. Literally a balanced diet of raw rabbit meat, rabbit bones and rabbit organs. Stool went completely back to normal. No more mucous and hardly any smell. Turns out, he is intolerant to all poultry (chicken, turkey, duck and especially quail). He eats rabbit, goat and pork with no issues now.

I'm not sure if what your cat is going through is a food intolerance as well, I just wanted to share my experience since the stool symptoms were so similar. 

 

[cleopatras mom]

Cleopatra has been on a low dose of Prednisole since the day before yesterday's afternoon. She has pooped once since then(once was right after taking the medicine), and she still has blood in her stools. Five minutes later, I found a drop of blood on the floor in my room. I do not know where it came from her, but I know it did. I am now changing her diet, so hopefully it will help. I feel very sorry for her, and I do not know what to do. I feel like I am running out of time, and it is so complicated. How long does it take for 2.5 mg of Prednisolone to start working, does anyone know?

The thing that frustrates me is that she has NO side effects for ANYTHING but bloody stools. They are normal sized and shape most always, they just have a layer of mucous and blood. No diarrhea at all....Does this truly mean that chances of her having IBD is low? The reason for cats having diarrhea is because their intestines are inflamed, correct? Is there a chance that she just has a parasite or whatever, and everything on the blood tests is normal? Except for calcium?

 

[lisahe]

I don't know about Pred but can say that bloody stools with mucous were our previous cat's first symptom of digestive trouble. That problem came and went over the years and she eventually got more symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea -- she most likely had IBD and, ultimately, lymphoma, but she had all sorts of other health issues, including a horribly irregular heartbeat, so couldn't get a real diagnosis. She lived to be at least 17 despite all that!

 

[rayvenstar101]

I didn't read all this, but from my experience with bloody stools, it was hairballs. My puppy would chew on everything and got bad hairballs and bones inside his tummy. We took him to the vet and gave us some cat medicine for hairballs. I was so upset with him! Little did I know my friend's cat had been sick for the past week and she was getting worse, anything she ate she'd throw back up, and the friend's mother didn't want to pay for a vet visit. So I out of pure luck, figured that it must be hairballs. I let her borrow the hairball medicine. The poor little cat threw up lots of blood and hair, but her life was saved. Then I got happy that my puppy cost us $300 to get him that medicine!

 

[rayvenstar101]

Also, I have a tortie named Cleocatra XD

 

[cleopatras mom]

That is funny! I named her when I was littler, so I would not have come up with that, lol!

I am glad you figured out what was causing everything! Cleo has had bloody stools since November now. Regular stools, but with blood on the the rim, and mucous. Occasionally she woulld vomit up spit after going to the bathroom, and very occasionally her stools would be a little too soft. The vet thought that she could have had a food sensitivity, and Cleo was put on Royal Canin Rabbit and Pea. That has not worked yet, and we brought her in last week. We took a blood test, and everything came back normal, except that calcium was a little high, and phosphorus a little low. The vet has decided that it could be a type of cancer, and seems like she is nearly convinced it is...but I am HOPING HOPING HOPING that it is just a food sensitivty, and/or IBD.

But we only took one test, and not the Ionized Calcium one. AND we did not take a fecal examination either, so...maybe something has not shown up in the blood panel? Or it was a one time thing, or a messup. We did in house testing.

 

[rayvenstar101]

That long?? Wow, I am not a cat expert, but I don't think it's cancer.

 

[cleopatras mom]

Maybe not, at least not a terminal one if it started in November. But perhaps she does, and she just got it. i dunno...

 

[cleopatras mom]

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?!?! Cleopatra has NO blood in her stools!!!! I have no idea if it is because of the Prednisolone, but after JUST two days of being grain-free, she has NO blood in her stools! BUT, I just recently saw tape worms! Those little buggers! I had just flea treated her last month, and now they are back! I have to ask the vet about worming her because of the Prednisolone, but we shall see! I am SO HAPPY! I know that this is only one stool that has not been bloody, but who knows?

Could the Prednisolone be the main source for that, and I am just solving symptoms? She is on 2.5mg every day. I shall keep her on Pred until next week, and then ask the vet if I could perhaps slowly wean her off, and see if it was just because she was intolerant to grain. The elevated calcium still concerns me, but one step at a time I suppose! Cross your fingers for us, and send us healing vibes and prayers! 

 I saw it earlier today, but I guess I was so concerned and worried the past few days, that it finally sunk in.

 

[cleopatras mom]

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• cleopatras mom
• Apr 17, 2016

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• cleopatras mom
• Apr 17, 2016

Here are a few pictures of Cleopatra. I never put a picture behind that face for everyone. Is that how the saying goes?

 

[ginny]

Very good news!  It well could be the grain-free food!  I've had grain sensitivity for years and didn't know it until I went grain-free myself.  My heartburn went away and my stomach flattened without all that inflammation and bloat.  Hope this is the case for your kitty too!  

 

[cleopatras mom]

Update: Cleopatra has just went to the litterbox and produced a stool. I actually had really high hopes, but when I peeked in, it still had a tiny bit of blood. So, back to square one! Hoping for another stool that has no blood in it.

Does anyone know how long it takes for prednisolone to work? Am I giving too low of a dose? It has been 6 days since I started giving it to her. Well, 5 and a half. She seems to be eating a little more after transitioning her to Wellness, and she enjoys it better. I am going to contact the vet again today or tomorrow. Should I ask for a higher dose? Or give her body some time on the new food? I am also weighing her today, before calling, so cross your fingers, please! 

 

[cleopatras mom]

Cleo has been doing better, and I have since transitiioned her to home-made meals. For about a month. However, I noticed that after doing so, she only does #2 every four or five days! Is this normal??

 

[abby2932]

The longest my cats go is about once every 3 days. But all cats are different so maybe that might be ok? I saw you mentioned her stool had a greenish tint to it...that doesn't sound right I don't think. I'm not sure why it would be that color. But really great news about the blood not making an appearance anymore

 

[cleopatras mom]

I looked at her stool again, and it was just the poor lighting. There was nothing green about it ^^

Well I don't feel so horrible if the longest they go is three days. On dry cat food she went about every other day, and now, on a home-made food, it is every four or so days.

There wasn't any blood that was visible to me my eye, so I am really excited! Though it still had a mucus coating, it seemed.

AND it was not really dry like oothers say it is supposed to be, but it was tiny!

 

[cleopatras mom]

She pooped yesterday and it was normal, but today it definitely hd a greenish color to it. The only difference I can think of is that I added probiotics a day or so ago, AND she has been in heat. The vet advised since she was already 7 and with her problems, not to spay her. So I already know this issue. She also didn't eat as much yesterday as she was too 'distracted' to do so. Could the probiotics cause this, and her being in heat and not eating much yesterday? Should I wait for another stool and then call the vet, or should I do so now? And the stool sample was soft, so she does have an upset stomach. Which really stinks because she was doing so great on this homemade diet.

 

[cleopatras mom]

Just bumping this up.

 

[abby2932]

Do the probiotics have lactose in it? If so, that could be the cause of the upset stomach. My cats did get soft, stinky stool from  Natural Factors Acidophilus and Bifidus which *I think* was caused by the lactose in it. (Cats are lactose-intolerant, after all)  Once I switched to Nexabiotic  brand probiotic, things got better in that department.

Again, I'm not sure how to explain the green tint stool. I saw another poster mention that green stool comes from passing through the intestines too quickly, which does make sense. But if she's only going #2 about once every 4 days or so, I wouldn't think that is the case here. However, it should not be green and I don't know why that might be.

 

[cleopatras mom]

I don't think it does, but I am not sure. Her brand is Proviable. And her stools did pass quickly. She pooped three consecutive days in a row, and the first had third had slightly green stools.