Blood in Kitten Stool: Causes and Treatments

Raising a pet, especially cats, is not as easy as most people think. Under mistreatment, your lovely friend may suffer from health hazards, ranging from minor indigestion to even cancer. One of the most common phenomena is bleeding upon defecation.

It could come as a shock to spot specks of blood in kitten stool, but there are some things you can do to improve the situation. Getting a good grasp of possible causes and effective medical attention including first-aid care is likely to come in handy.

Categories of Blood in Kitten Stool

Fecal bleeding is normally found in two major forms, depending on different sources of diseases:

Hematochezia

Hematochezia, commonly known as bright red blood, is associated with bleeding in lower intestines namely colon and rectum. A single incident of hematochezia shouldn’t be taken to your heart. However, the repeated occurrence of this phenomenon may show every indication of severe health problems, including cancer and parasite infestation in old and young animals respectively.

Melena

Melena, or tarry-color blood, stems from damages in the intestinal tract, especially small intestines, where the blood is subject to color change as a result of the digestive process by enzymes there. This kind of bleeding often happens in cats’ stomach, esophagus, duodenum, and in some cases, mouth and nose region.

Causes of Blood in Kitten Stool

Colitis

Colon inflammation, or colitis, is the most common factor leading to blood in cat stool. It is sometimes difficult to work out the root of inflammation, but it is somehow related to gastrointestinal disorders.

In the event of colitis, inflammation causes the separation of colon cells, making intestines’ lining become penetrable for water and secretion to go through. Consequently, it exerts great impacts on the gut’s motility and colon’s capability of water absorption and fecal storage. Because the food passes through colon without many nutrients and water being retained in the body, symptoms of diarrhea along with signs of blood and mucous usually follow.

Due to its feature of rapid dehydration, colitis-infected cats tend to defecate frequently, but without much stool.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Inflammatory bowel disease causes inflammation to cells in the gastrointestinal tract at a chronic level, leading to damages in the mucosa of various regions, including small intestines, colon and stomach. Although no one is totally sure about its exact origin, IBD is thought to happen as a consequence of food intolerance, intestinal bacteria, and hurt immune system.

Unlike the case of colitis, inflammatory areas caused by IBD aren’t relieved over the time but for prompt treatment. Poor digestion, nutrient absorption and abdominal upset are just three of common effects by IBD in the short run. As time passes by, patients can suffer from the scaring of the mucosa, which in turn stimulates the growth of intestinal cancer cells.

Parasites

Your cat stands a high chance of taking in various kinds of parasites via mouths. As for kittens, roundworms are likely to find their way into cat bodies through an infected mother’s milk source. Likewise, adult cats take in such long parasites when eating rodents or infected animals. These worms are proven to cause serious outcomes if patients are not given instant treatment, out of which pneumonia, intestinal obstructions and even death are unavoidable. In terms of less complicated cases, cats may suffer vomiting, bloody stools, coughing, gagging and diarrhea.

Protozoan infection is also a source of concern because on invasion of the body, these single-celled parasites can cause a series of gastrointestinal issues, ranging from soft stools to vomiting and diarrhea. Cats can get infected with giardia directly or indirectly through contact with contaminated soil or food source.

Constipation

Commonly speaking, a healthy cat goes to the litter box once a day at the very least. If he skips a few days or defecates just a little under great strain, he may be diagnosed with constipation.

The sight of fecal bleeding can be attributed to difficulties with bowel movement. Without a doubt, irritation and small tears in the intestine are easily triggered when hard dry defecation encounters with constipation.

Viral Infection

Without proper vaccination, cats easily fall victim to feline panleukopenia, a disease caused by parvovirus, which can remain highly active in shelters, boarding facilities and catteries for such a long time.

In particular, kittens, whose immune systems are not fully developed, are prone to catch diarrhea, high fever and even death when infected with this kind of virus.

Injuries

Bright red blood can result from traumas in the anus region. This is often the case of outdoor cats getting involved in a fight causing their pelvis bones to break or during a medical check-up like probing, enema, and so on.

External Factors

Cats may show strong reactions to strange food upon introduction for the first time, which often places pressure on their intestines and then leads to bleeding. Generally speaking, your pets cannot be fed on human foods in any way, especially dairy products.

Warm milk is usually mistaken as a favorite drink of cats, but in fact, those having grown out of their kitten years are strongly allergic to lactose. Some foods namely boiled potato and cooked chicken maybe acceptable to their digestive system.

Hard items such as bones or hair once entering cat intestines can make colon lining irritated, which also results in blood in their stool.

Treatments for Blood in Kitten Stool

Natural Home Remedies

If blood is found in your cat stool once in a blue moon and he still eats and plays as usual, you shouldn’t be worried so much. Perhaps the root cause is a minor gastrointestinal upset due to overeating or consuming strange food. Moreover, the digestive system of some cats easily gets irritated by stress or abrupt changes in surroundings. These include the introduction of a new pet to the house, the delivery of a baby and the change of daily diet. It often takes cats a certain amount of time to adapt to new food brands to avoid acute complications.

In this case, try keeping your cat away from food intake for at least 24 hours while giving fresh water to him is acceptable. By this way, his body will be able to solely deal with culprits to his digestive system instead of accepting new foods. After that, your cat should be fed on cooked rice, skinless chicken and plain yogurt to calm the digestive system. Using a natural diet without additives and preservatives is also advised to keep your cat in shape.

In addition, it is necessary that you keep your cat at great ease. The more stressed your cat gets, the more likely he gets colitis. Try to reduce changes in his routine to the maximum such as moving out or moving in any new members.

Professional Intervention

On the other hand, in the event of repeated blood sightings followed by diarrhea or vomiting, your cat may run into a serious medical problem which is in urgent need of veterinary support. Bring along a stool sample to the nearest vet clinic and the vet can conduct a number of examinations including ultrasound, urine test and abdominal X-rays to figure out the actual problem.

Based on an exact diagnose, a prescription of antibiotics is supposed to help eliminate bacterial infections. A de-worming may be recommended in case your cat is infected with parasites. Furthermore, natural supplements such as slippery elm extract can do your cat good, but make sure to consult with your vet carefully before giving it a try. This is due to the fact that some cats may grow allergic reactions to natural ingredients. At the same time, you ought to strictly follow your vet’s guidelines on a specialized diet for your cat to achieve the most desired results during the recovery process.

Finally, keep a close eye on each and every change in his behavior day by day to see whether his health is making any progress or not. Talk to a vet right away if the situation gets from bad to worse for prompt actions.

Conclusion

The sight of blood in cat stool is a major source of concern for any pet owners. It can be a vivid indication of minor or serious health issues that your furry friend is experiencing. The sooner you detect, the quicker you can provide medical treatment to speed up his recovery process. Therefore, bear in mind to pay constant attention to your little cat’s litter box to spot any abnormalities as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below. Thanks for reading!