More cat worries (blood in litter)

cj iwakura

Can I still call Artemis a kitten since he's a year old? Probably not.

Anyway, just got back from a trip, and I had a friend watching him, but I saw there were trace droplets of blood around his litter. He tends to cover his #2s with socks or assorted pieces of cloth(a bed skirt in this case), and there was blood on it with traces of light brown. I've seen it before, but I had no idea if it was from him or not.

There was nothing in the litter itself or the stools, just around the bed skirt he tossed in there, but I'm positive it's from him now.

I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow, I'm just hoping for an idea of what to expect and/or something to put my worries at ease.

General consensus is that this might be urinary tract infection? Is that the most probable case, and if so, anything I should be/not be doing to keep him healthy?

Thanks all.

Pantshandshake

Wait... The cat uses the litter box, then drags cloth items from elsewhere and hides his leavings with them?

cj iwakura

Yes.

ceres

If there's none in the litter or stools, maybe it's a cut? Sometimes they get into fights with coat hangers and things..

cj iwakura

It's the second time I've seen it, and there's no blood on his fur anywhere.

bowen

cj iwakura wrote: »

It's the second time I've seen it, and there's no blood on his fur anywhere.

Have you considered your cat might be murdering people?

Legit though, that's strange and I can't even fathom a reason why there'd be no blood anywhere. You'd probably see it on them if it was coming out of any of their body holes.

Pantshandshake

If blood is on the items the cat is dragging, but not on his waste material, I'd guess it's coming from his face area. Perhaps the mouth. Or, possibly one or more of the paws.

Magic Pink

I'd check the claws first to see if he didn't tear a pad or a claw. Most often when a cat bleeds from somewhere, it's that.

Otherwise, if he's spotting blood around, then yeah, UI.

cj iwakura

His paws look fine, far as I can tell. I assume it's UI related since it was around the litter area before, and on the cloth he dragged into it this time.

Pantshandshake

The problem with 'UI related' is that it runs the entire spectrum of "Here's some special food that will clear that up" to "Your cat no longer has fully functioning kidneys, sorry."
So, it's hard to say what you should expect.
As an example, my in-law's cat gets a UI every winter. And every winter, we know it's that time because he'll go into the bathroom, and pee blood laced urine into the sink.
However, Deaf Orange Kitty of mine spots blood once in a while. She's in the early stages of kidney failure.

cj iwakura

Sorry to hear that.

I really can't be sure what's going on, so better safe than sorry. I don't see anything in the litter, but I'm 90% positive it's from him in some way, so I guess I'll see and update tomorrow.

Pantshandshake

Appreciated, but it's neither here nor there. Just trying to illustrate how hard an internet diagnosis is for this sort of thing.

For what it's worth, at a year old, you're pretty unlikely to to have a real bad time ahead of you. My bet would be antibiotics, a new diet, and more water.

cj iwakura

$50 later(oh well), vet says he's fine, far as he can tell. His bladder is empty, so he's urinating normally, and nothing with the anal glands. He said it might have been an occasional stress related thing. I can do a urine test if I feel like it, but for now, I guess I have nothing to panic over.

Pantshandshake

Excellent news. Glad to hear he's doing better.

Trillian

Interstitial cystitis probably.
You have to keep a really close eye on him though. If he ever starts to strain in the litterbox or stops peeing, that's an emergency vet visit.

cj iwakura

Should I take the urinary sample in tomorrow? It'll be extra cost, but if it makes it clear, I'm willing.

It was bright yellow by the by.

cecily

This could be what used to be called feline urinary syndrome, not uncommon in male cats, especially those that have not been neutered.

If this is the problem, it's imperative to get it taken care of since it is life threatening and they die in a really horrible way. Once it's under control, he may only need special food for the rest of his life and have no further symptoms, however, it is never "cured". I had one cat who was never bothered with it again after I got it under control but symptoms can recur. If it's neglected, it's bye-bye puddytat. I hope he's healthy.

cj iwakura

He has no urinary problems as far as either I or the vet can tell. I've been starting to think I might have considered the wrong options, like it was either from a wound or (I hope not) he coughed it up somehow.

cj iwakura

Late update: it's definitely rectal. I saw the blood in his stool samples. I took that to the vet, so we'll see.

At very least this is NOT as bad as urinary, as I'm told. It's likely a parasite.

ceres

The good news is that if it's worms that can be one pill and done.

Pantshandshake

If it does end up being worms, be prepared for your cat to either vomit or poop a TON of dead worms. This is fine. Do not be alarmed.

cj iwakura

Well, test wound up negative. That just makes me confused. Oh well.

Jimmy King

Has the vet been able to tell where the blood is actually coming from yet?

One of my cats has a strange, only semi-understood food allergy. When it flares up she gets an infection in her bowels and gets bloody stools. I give her antibiotics for a few weeks and it goes away. Repeat every 6-12 months. Hers is usually accompanied by vomiting as well, but they may be separate symptoms of related issues but one does not have to go with the other. This took thousands and thousands of dollars of tests coming back negative over 2 or 3 major flare ups to "diagnose". Eventually there was nothing left to test for except stomach cancer and it had been going on long enough that she would have already been dead or close to it if it were cancer. The vet put her on a prescription diet of super low allergen food which minimizes the flare ups, gave the cat some antibiotics as we need to do every so often, and the cat has been alive for years since then.

cj iwakura

Sounds just like the instance here. The vet said just watch his diet, and recommended medication if it gets worse. And as said, it's definitely rectal.

Forar

Seems that the patient is doing well?

That said, maybe I've been away from H&A for too long, but isn't there an unwritten rule being violated?

... pics of the kitty!

cj iwakura

Forar wrote: »

Seems that the patient is doing well?

That said, maybe I've been away from H&A for too long, but isn't there an unwritten rule being violated?

... pics of the kitty!

I think he's always been doing well, I'm just paranoid.

My 3DS isn't the best photography tool, but...





I aim to please.

Say bye to H&A Artemis.

Forar

D'awwwwwwww!