One of Our Cat's Has Blood in It's Poo

[Medusa]

Next Wednesday, as in a week from tomorrow? If so, that's a long time to wait. I'd see if I could get her in sooner, if possible. If she becomes dehydrated, you could have a real problem on your hands. Think about it, would you want to have diarrhea for over a week? It weakens the system and they don't get proper nutrition because it isn't absorbed into the system.

[Kalei]

Well I can try, but my vet is really busy, they could barely make me an appointment for next wensday, and I called about that appointment 3 weeks ago.

I also don't have the biggest amount of money right now, and I have no idea what he will charge to get a poo sample and what it will all come to after that.

[Kalei]

I would think that if it was affecting her health, or dehydration, that she would show it in the way she acts.

Could it be from eating adult cat food?

[Catty1]

Kalei - you don't have to wait to take Kalypso in!

Get a sample of the poo and put it in a clean plastic sandwich bag or ziplock bag, and take it to the vet. They can analyze it there MUCH sooner than you waiting to take your kitty in.

When I first got Cole, he had some diarrhea with blood also. I just took in the sample, they told me what they found, and then I got antibiotics.

It was coccidia, and cleared up in about two days, but I gave Cole the pills for 5 days.

So - just take the sample in!

[Kalei]

Kalei - you don't have to wait to take Kalypso in!

Get a sample of the poo and put it in a clean plastic sandwich bag or ziplock bag, and take it to the vet. They can analyze it there MUCH sooner than you waiting to take your kitty in.

When I first got Cole, he had some diarrhea with blood also. I just took in the sample, they told me what they found, and then I got antibiotics.

It was coccidia, and cleared up in about two days, but I gave Cole the pills for 5 days.

So - just take the sample in!

That's a good idea, I will try to get a sample tomorrow and take it in. Our vet would be closed already today. Althought I don't really want to put diarrhea in a plastic bag....yuck!

But I will do it for my kitty. I just hope the antibiotics don't cost alot.

[catmandu]

Thats A Good Idea About The Sample. I Dont Think That Eating Adult Food Would Do That As I Ahve Had Kittens That Ate Adult Food And There Were No Problems In That Respect. I Would Do That Asap So You Dont Worry, And Its Cured And Kalypsos Better Sooner.

[Catty1]

Kalei - yeah, it's yuck! But use three sandwich baggies (all new ones). Put two over your hand to pick up the poo with - or use a flat piece of cardboard like the stuff shoeboxes are made of to scoop it up with.

Don't worry, they don't need a LOT of the stuff!

In November 2005, Cole's nanlysis was $14.32 CDN and the meds were $14.00. The drug was Metronidazole 75 mg.

I hope that's all Kalypso needs!

[Catlady711]

Not to minimize the possible seriousness of bloody diarrhea, however it is possible a bad reaction to a food change, in this case to adult food, could possibly cause this.

While any diarrhea is dangerous because of dehydration and underlying problems, we had one of our hospital cats do this a while back. We had been feeding her the same food we feed our patients and she was fine with that. However we got a ton of sample packets of a different food and figured we'd feed it to her. We did the food change gradually, but soon she started losing weight, losing her hair, getting scabs all over her body and had horrible bloody diarrhea. We couldn't find anything else wrong with her and changed her food back. After two days her stools firmed up, and after a week no new scabs. After two weeks you could see the hair trying to grow back.

I'm not saying that's what this particular cats problem is, however being it was mentioned she recently started eating a new food, it could be a problem. The cat still needs to see the vet though and soon to prevent further problems. Until you can get to the vet or at least a fecal sample, try to keep your cat in it's own food bowl, not the one that has the other food in it. If you have to feed the cats separately, it could make a big difference.

Is your vet always that busy? If so then I'd concider getting a second vet for emergencies or outright change vets. It's not good to have to wait 3 or more WEEKS when you have a problem now. Most vets should be able to get you in within a day or two, sooner if it's an emergency.

Good luck and keep us posted.