[DK]

I have a tabby cat who is ~8yrs old and 17 lbs. Oftentimes there will be a streak of blood in his bowel movements but not something that occurs consistently. It happens enough for me to be concerned and to have gone to the vet several times over the past two years.

After a couple tests and visits the vet's only conclusion was that my cat is under stress and that is what is causing this. Anyone else run into something like this or have any other tips etc for me in case my vet is FoC. Thanks

 

[drjean]

Some cats just do this. If you'd like the technical term, it is; idiopathic hematochezia of cats. It just means "cats have blood in their poop from time to time and we don't know why."

If there's consistent blood, with mucus or change in stool consistency, then you may be looking at a case of colitis, but with no other signs, it's probably no biggie.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[DK]

thanks much!

I think I'm around the $600 vet mark at this point with it but they haven't found anything wrong. It comes and goes - sometimes it's bad, other times it's barely noticeable. Sometimes he sits down in the basement afterwards and leaves a small blood stain [more a droplet] on the cement :lol:

 

[drjean]

Well, I'm glad you asked, because I don't get to say "idiopathic hematochezia of cats" very often, and it's my very favorite phrase that I learned in vet school! :lol:

If the cat is fine otherwise, not to worry. If it's really irritating to you (blood spots all over the house can be annoying!), we could try working with diet a bit. What's he eating now, and what's been tried?

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[DK]

I have 3 cats in the house, and he is the oldest [and fattest lol]. Right now they all do the blue bag Purina Cat Chow.

I do have some science diet adult lite food the vet gave me for him to lose some weight but it's hard with a 3 cat house to isolate one animal to their own food. A friend recommended chicken soup brand cat food but I've yet to look at it.

He does have some hairball problems a lot, and I try to give him the paste, or pills or food but he gets a little irritable from time to time about that :lol: