Zoey

Question
Hello,
my cat Zoey is having blood in her stool for 3 months now. The vet has given her antibiotics, steroids and now she is on a stool softener. Now and then she has a lot of blood in her stool, but it seems to be less since we started her on the stool softener. We just got more of the softener for her for next 3 months . I was wondering what can I be giving her to help her heal inside. I know that the aloe vera is a very good soother for the digestive system for people, but can I give it to a cat?

Answer
Hi Danuta!

Thank you for rating! I am just editing part for aloe, as the name of the laxative compound is anthraquinone that has laxative effect.
Before I could recommend anything I would need to know what diagnostics were run on your kitty.
Also, was a fecal sample sent 'out' to a lab? Vets offices often miss giardia or certain parasites which shows up sometimes as bloody stool. In some parts of the country this would cost upwards of $140 so you would know if it was in house or sent out to a lab for analysis.
Does your vet think this is irritable bowel, colitis? idiopathic? Are there other symtpoms?
Sounds like is stool softener is making it better, she is constipated? If she is constipated I would add canned pumpkin to her diet 1-2 tsp twice daily. This can also be put in a syringe with flax seed oil.
What color is the blood? Is it bright red? Does it have mucous? Is she straining so hard that it could be broken blood vessels?
I would need all this to determine how to better assist you.
Blood in feline stool could be a whole host of different things.
Aloe vera plant is listed as toxic to pets, however acemannan which is a compound found in aloe vera has been used for viral issues, t-lymphocytes and interferon building promising for FELV, FIP, and FIV.. Aloe can also be a digestive tract irritant and laxative and some health food brands will filter out this irritant but i would air on the side of caution at the moment since we dont have enough information and not give to her at the moment. If you were to buy aloe vera juice that has "no anthraquinone" due to it being filtered out this would change the laxative properties and would be safer. But it MUST have anthraquinone filtered out and it will appear and taste like spring water.
I have used small amounts but for viral purposes. However, please give me more information as to what the vet thinks is going on and what tests were run as well as any other symptoms and i could perhaps offer other suggestions.
Very often food allergy shows up as blood in stool as well. The ingredient(s)she might be allergic to could be causing irritation along her digestive tract.
My suspicion has to do with diet, what brands are you feeding? Many commercial brands such as fancy feast have a lot of irritants and could cause a whole host of problems with the digestive tract that could lead to irritable bowels.
Does she ever have diarrhea? Vomit? What is the stool like? Runny?
Your vet clearly does not use holistic medicine as he is masking issue with steroids.
A natural home prepared diet free of pesticides, chemical additives, herbicides specifically prepared for feline needs with protein, taurine, bone meal, calcium  and organic ingredients is best to eliminate and heal digestive issues.
Once I know what you are feeding, and if she is constipated, is there mucous in stool, is blood intermittent, what diagnostics were run, what does the blood look like? what the diagnosis is and what other symptoms i might be able to be of better assistance to you within reason as email has its limitations. But I might be able to recommend books and help direct you in research, supplements and dietary issues.
I would also add a good expensive, healthy yogurt to her diet with plenty of healthful bacteria. A good probiotic product made for humans works too!
Did she respond to the steroid at all? Does she have any other issues? Itchy skin?

Shanti