cats bloody stool

Question
Hello. My indoor cat, who is about 10 years old, has had some unusual stool in the last 2 months. 5 or 6 times we've noticed (because he's left it uncovered) his stool has had a hardened end. The entire bit is covered or mixed with blood, mucous, and a large amount of hair. After the hard end, the constistency is normal or somewhat soft. I took him to the vet and she prescribed a hairball remedy (before this he usually coughed up hairballs.) She said if it happens again bring him back and she may give him an anti-inflammatory/antibiotic. This is a new vet to us and I'm wondering if she should have done a rectal exam? How would we know if it's a more serious problem? I'm also wondering, if his only problem is swallowing hair, why is he passing it now and not throwing it up as he used to?
Thanks for your time,
Kate

Answer
if they think it was something as benign as a hairball then they are doing the right thing.

see if the hair ball remedy helps. if not, have a rectal and the therapy done.  cats really dont like rectals, plus lots of fingers really dont fit up there :)