Blood in cat poop

Question
QUESTION: Hi, My 1 year old male cat has been pooping blood. he eats fine and plays,
but after he goes #2 a few drops of bright red bloods comes out should I
change his food? I brought a sample to the vet and it came back fine. they
want to check him out now. I'm a bit worried about what there going to do to
him and how much it will cost. He also had a history of tape worms I had to
treat him like 5 time before they were gone.
I also have a 1 year old female cat who has a dry cough. She has been to the
vet for this 2 times and they say she looks fine. could it be heart worms? I just
lost my best friend cat a year and a half ago and I am soo scared to go
through that again please help! Thanks! (They are indoor cats)

ANSWER: While cats certainly get heartworm, coughing is rarely a symptom of it in cats. Hairballs, cigarette smoke, and viruses can make them cough.
Cats also can get asthma just like humans can. How many times a day does she cough?
Some cats get hair stuck in their tonsils and that will make them cough.
The blood in your cats stool is what we call 'frank' blood. Bright red blood is usually from right around the rectum or the anus and it is a sign of irritation in that area. A small blood vessel will break through the skin and bleed from stool that is too dry, or if the cat strains or has diarrhea.
A few drops now and then is not a real problem. Tapeworms are however. The only way an indoor cat can get tapeworms is by eating fleas. Fleas are the intermediate host for the kind of tapeworms that cats get. So when they eat the flea the eggs that the flea has eaten of the tapeworm travel to the cats intestines and set up housekeeping.

The kind of wormer you get at the vets is the only kind that kills tapeworms. Over the counter drugs do not. So if you tried to use a Hartz wormer or something it would not kill the tapeworm's head off. That can regrow and then in 20 days you see the segments again.

So you must buy it at the vets. Tapeworms and round worms can also cause this bleeding you are seeing, but that is more uncommon.

If your one cat continues to cough and the vet says she is fine then ask why is she coughing? If it worsens then you should have her chest x-rayed.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for answering my question. Mamie my 1 yr old female only coughs once or twice, every few weeks I felt it was allergies, but when I dropped off a sample of poop for my other cat the vet tech scared me when he said she may have heart worms. As for Cactus My male, I found him as a stray and he had tape worms it took at least 5 treatments from the vet to finally get rid of them I feel because he had them so bad maybe that could be the issue? or the first time I took him to the vet they stuck something up his butt to get a sample do you think the vets could have hurt him? I could hear him scream from down the hall it was soo sad, but that was almost a year ago. I really need to find a good vet in Austin I feel like there all out of vet school and don't care that much.

Answer
Hi Lindsay,
It could be allergies but some cats just have a funny cough where they stretch out their necks and make a sort of huffing noise for a few minutes. Is that what she is doing? I have had many cats do that and it's harmless. I just figured that they had an issue with some hair since they are self-groomers.

There is a test for heartworms for cats Lindsay. Instead of worrying about it, get him tested and get them on heartworm prevention. Mine are both on it and one cat is 14 yrs old. My area is heartworm endemic so I am not taking chances with my cats.
As far as the blood in the stool, it has been too long for that to be an issue.
But as I said, changes in diet, irritations, etc are what cause the bleeding and fleas cause the tapeworms.

Call all the vets in your area and ask what year they graduated. If it was in the 70s then go there. They are experienced enough to care yet still a ways from retiring. Well, not too far! So maybe the 80s would be better. There are plenty of young vets out there that care- you just have to find one.

Good luck! Let me know about any changes in food etc you might remember.