Blood in cats poo

Orla K

It's the cat I found, if he keeps on getting sick like this I'm going to have to give him away (even though I'm the only person he seems to like). I could afford one cat but two cats with one getting sick every second week, I didn't really choose to keep him it just happened that way. He sleeps beside my pillow every night and follows me around everywhere even the bathroom, he's lovely but terrified of anyone else.

I'm quite upset about it, I think I'll have to give him to the animal shelter, he'll hate it and I'll probably cry giving him away.

I've only just seen the blood tonight. I'll bring him to the vet tomorrow and depending on how much it costs, I'll either keep him or give him to the animal shelter.

The other cat noticed I was getting upset and jumped on me for cuddles.

TskTsk

Don't worry too much until the vet checks him out, it could just be something as simple as constipation!

Orla K

TskTsk wrote: »

Don't worry too much until the vet checks him out, it could just be something as simple as constipation!

His poo was a bit runny (the noise made me look). I really hope he's alright.

TskTsk

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Ask-Veterinarian-700/kitten-vey-runny-stool.htm

Some useful info.

Sigma Force

Are you living in the Dublin area, if so perhaps the Blue Cross can help you with the vet treatment that way you might be able to keep the cat.
Or approach a shelter and ask if they would rehome the cat for you but that you are prepared to foster the cat but would need help with the bills until the cat is rehomed.

Then when you have a bit spare perhaps give them a donation that way the cat would have a good chance of finding a home that suits his/her needs and you'd be able to build up the cats confidence by fostering.

Orla K

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Are you living in the Dublin area, if so perhaps the Blue Cross can help you with the vet treatment that way you might be able to keep the cat.
Or approach a shelter and ask if they would rehome the cat for you but that you are prepared to foster the cat but would need help with the bills until the cat is rehomed.

Then when you have a bit spare perhaps give them a donation that way the cat would have a good chance of finding a home that suits his/her needs and you'd be able to build up the cats confidence by fostering.

I'm hoping it's worms, even though I did worm him his belly seems a bit swelled.

I'm not in dublin but I sent to the petexpo and was talking to them there and they have things in the race courses in kildare. I'm going to ring them to find more info on that.

The Sweeper

Blood in a cat's poo is not always automatic cause for alarm. If it's just a few spots, it may be just from straining or constipation. More than a few spots or blots, or persistant bleeding over a number of days, and yes you need to visit the vet.

hadook

If he was badly worm bound before you found him that it may well take a couple of worming sessions to kill all of them. My best advice would be to get some parazole or panacur from your vets (it's a 'gentle' wormer given over 3 days) and worm him every couple of weeks for the next 6 weeks. Follow that up with something like Milbemax for cats a couple of weeks later and you should be worm free.

How's his diet? Have you changed anything recently?

ghost_ie

It could be just an infection. The middle dog had blood in her poo when she was about 2. I took her to the vet who said it was an gastric infection gave her antibiotics. Five years on she's still here and running around like Usain Bolt

JKM

Orla K wrote: »

I'll probably cry giving him away.

Orla K wrote: »

I'll bring him to the vet tomorrow and depending on how much it costs, I'll either keep him or give him to the animal shelter.

He sounds like a cat that needs a little bit of extra care and attention. And i'm sure you're doing the best you can. But please consider that if you're not either emotionally or financially equipt to look after the little guy, maybe the right thing to do would be to try and rehome him.

You must consider the financial impact of looking after any animal. Outside of the cost of food, worming and flea treatments, and nuetering, there will always be unexpected illness and injury. Maybe you could look into pet insurance to help ease the burden.

If this isn't an option I would urge you to seek help for possible rehoming.

Best of Luck.

Whispered

JKM wrote: »

But please consider that if you're not either emotionally or financially equipt to look after the little guy, maybe the right thing to do would be to try and rehome him. .

+1,

Orla, I hope the little guy is ok. Fair play to you for keeping him so far but maybe the best thing to do would be to consider rehoming.

I think it's a little unfair to say you didn't choose to keep him, that it happened that way. You were offered a rescue space, in someones home, for him during your first thread where you were asking about raising money for his vet bills. Then again I know how emotionally attached you can get to fosters, it's always so hard giving them up . I think if every time the cat gets sick, you think of him as "the cat you found" instead of your cat, it will stress you out no end trying to find the money to have him treated and having a sick animal is stressful enough anyway.

Rescues are well equiped to deal with a nervous animal, and will get him to the point where he can bond with more than one person, so please don't worry about him getting upset about being moved on, any rescue would make sure he is being well looked after. They do brilliant work and really know what they are doing.

Hope he's ok.

Orla K

helena.ryan wrote: »

I think if every time the cat gets sick, you think of him as "the cat you found" instead of your cat

I do think of him as my cat but I just say the cat I found on boards because people might get confused with him and my other cat.

I brought him to the vet, he was wormed and he is now being starved for 24hrs and then he'll get rice and chicken for a few days and go back on his own food. If it's still there then I'll bring him back.

Whispered

Well if your other cat got sick would you give him to a rescue?

I really hope he's ok, but I think the whole story is confusing, you found a cat, you were asking about raising funds, I offered you a rescue space or help finding one, you replied saying that you were keeping him as you'd gotten attached. Now you're saying that you had no choice but to keep him and that he's sick so you're thinking of giving him to a rescue. I don't think it's any way to treat your pet. If he's your pet you just have to deal with the costs (maybe blue cross can help?). If he's not your pet then do the right thing and rehome him.

JKM

I have to say I totally agree with Helena. The fact that you are even considering giving him to a shelter if his treatment costs too much suggests to me that your heart isn't 100% in looking after him. The fact that you would be a little sad at the thought of giving him away isn't enough of a reason to keep him.

Please do the right thing and allow someone who will be able to give him 100% love and care give him a good home.

RossFixxxed

This happens my cat sometimes. She has a dodgy tummy and if she eats other cat's food etc it can happen. We've moved her very slowly to dry food that's designed for cats with sensitive tummies (it actually works out CHEAPER than the normal stuff in the long run).

Bring him to the vet get him checked. Make sure to keep the worming medicine going etc. Maybe try changing the food!

Orla K

It seems to be gone now, I starved him for 24hrs and then fed him rice and chicken and I'm slowly going back onto his other food. If it's back when I do that I'll change to the diet sensitive food.


I have to say this as I was typing he climbed up onto me and made it very awkward, he can be so cute.

Themadhouse

it might be worth starting to feed twice a day rather than free feed. place the bowl on a height like a shoe box so the cat is sitting up eating rather than crouched down. Also it might be worth looking at a wheat free diet, this can do wonders if a cat has a dodgy tummy.
Orijen, applaws, happy cat, almo nature or if you want something from the vet rc sensitivity control.
We hav e2 here that always had tummy issues, both ends, and we changed to the wheat and grain free and i has done wonders. No more runny poos, no regurgitation of food, no more sick tummys.

If the cat is regularly getting sick you need to look at the diet and what they are eating.
by feeding twice a day you cancel out him eating what the other cat is eating. Or if you do wish to free feed put all the bowls on a slight height. It helps the food to make it's way to the stomach easier.

Orla K

Themadhouse wrote: »

it might be worth starting to feed twice a day rather than free feed. place the bowl on a height like a shoe box so the cat is sitting up eating rather than crouched down. Also it might be worth looking at a wheat free diet, this can do wonders if a cat has a dodgy tummy.
Orijen, applaws, happy cat, almo nature or if you want something from the vet rc sensitivity control.
We hav e2 here that always had tummy issues, both ends, and we changed to the wheat and grain free and i has done wonders. No more runny poos, no regurgitation of food, no more sick tummys.

If the cat is regularly getting sick you need to look at the diet and what they are eating.
by feeding twice a day you cancel out him eating what the other cat is eating. Or if you do wish to free feed put all the bowls on a slight height. It helps the food to make it's way to the stomach easier.

He's not on free feed, he'd just gorge himself, he gets fed twice a day she gets fed more because she won't eat it in two go's and he just ends up gobbling it. I think wheat free would be a good thing to look into, he's on antibiotics and anti inflamitaries now and it's impossible to get him to take them, he's quite strong (even the vet was supprised, he tried to pull him out of the box with me holding it and couldn't) physically forcing him to take them isn't going to happen. and I crushed it into food he ate half of it and just looked at me, at the moment I'm not giving him anything else to encourage him to eat the rest but I can't keep this up for a week.

Themadhouse

What sort of weight is he?
The easiest way is to scruff , lift feet off the ground, with other hand open teeth and push tab as far down the throat as you can. a pill popper is good for getting the tab right down the throat. Hold the mouth closed from under the bottom jaw and tap nose or rub throat to encourage them to swallow. If he is big boy get someone else to hold some of his weight off the floor.

Orla K

Themadhouse wrote: »

What sort of weight is he?
The easiest way is to scruff , lift feet off the ground, with other hand open teeth and push tab as far down the throat as you can. a pill popper is good for getting the tab right down the throat. Hold the mouth closed from under the bottom jaw and tap nose or rub throat to encourage them to swallow. If he is big boy get someone else to hold some of his weight off the floor.

He is quite a big and stubbern boy, it took about ten minutes for him to take the worm pill and that was with the help of a vet nurse.

Themadhouse

lol, i know what its like. The prob with putting it in the food is that if they smell it they wont eat it. Even if you have to wrap him in a towel to give it to him orally it might me worht it.

Orla K

Themadhouse wrote: »

lol, i know what its like. The prob with putting it in the food is that if they smell it they wont eat it. Even if you have to wrap him in a towel to give it to him orally it might me worht it.

I did try the pillow case thing last night, I now have a number of plasters on my hands and arms:o

The Sweeper

Ask the vet if the tablets can be crushed.

If they can, crush each dose and mix it with a 1/2 tsp or so of softened butter - you want it greasy and sticky.

Scruff the cat, and using a teaspoon, smear each of his front paws with the meds-filled butter. As soon as you let him go, he'll lick it off. You need to smear it in so he can't shake his feet and get rid of lumps of it. Also don't use too much butter as he may end up with the trots, since it's dairy.

Any other soft, buttery textured stuff will work the same - you might try some pureed raw liver (again, we're talking tiny amounts here - it needs to be sticky and oily so it will stay on his paws until he cleans it off).

Whispered

The Sweeper wrote: »

Ask the vet if the tablets can be crushed.

If they can, crush each dose and mix it with a 1/2 tsp or so of softened butter - you want it greasy and sticky.

Scruff the cat, and using a teaspoon, smear each of his front paws with the meds-filled butter. As soon as you let him go, he'll lick it off. You need to smear it in so he can't shake his feet and get rid of lumps of it. Also don't use too much butter as he may end up with the trots, since it's dairy.

Any other soft, buttery textured stuff will work the same - you might try some pureed raw liver (again, we're talking tiny amounts here - it needs to be sticky and oily so it will stay on his paws until he cleans it off).

That sounds like the voice of experience! What a brilliant idea.

Orla K

The Sweeper wrote: »

Ask the vet if the tablets can be crushed.

If they can, crush each dose and mix it with a 1/2 tsp or so of softened butter - you want it greasy and sticky.

Scruff the cat, and using a teaspoon, smear each of his front paws with the meds-filled butter. As soon as you let him go, he'll lick it off. You need to smear it in so he can't shake his feet and get rid of lumps of it. Also don't use too much butter as he may end up with the trots, since it's dairy.

Any other soft, buttery textured stuff will work the same - you might try some pureed raw liver (again, we're talking tiny amounts here - it needs to be sticky and oily so it will stay on his paws until he cleans it off).

It does sound like a really good idea but sadly does not work on him. He HATES me touching his legs, nails out and does flips to get away(I'm on my third bad cut this week, and my arms are full of smaller scratches). Even if I do get it on him I don't think it will work, he's not good at cleaning himself, might be beacuse he still has bad teeth and sore gums(have to get him better before they do anything about it) this is going to sound silly but he also misses alot too, he now has the cleanest bed ever:o

What worked the last time was sardines, their smell is very strong so he doesn't notice the pills. I'm going to look odd again going in and buying about 10 packs of sardines(I don't give him the whole tin at a time only half but the other cats puts up a fight with him for it so I have to give her some as well, oddly enough with three legs and quite a bit smaller she always wins the fight, he just sits there with a WTF look on him and runs away)

He's half wild but loves cuddles.

comongethappy

I found one of the best things to hide the taste of the anitbotics or wormers is to crush them, fry up some liver, finely slice it, and mix about 2 tsp of olive oil and the crushed tablet with the liver to coat it, along with a tiny bit of the dry mixed it, and they gobble it down. You can mix it between that and some of the sardines so too much of the sardines won't upset his stomach.

Ado86

Have you tried just putting it down the back of the neck and forcing him to swallow by syringing a small amount of water down after the tablet?
Wear a thick jumper (avoid the scratches) or have someone else hold him while he's wrapped in a towel with only his head out. I have a master at avoiding tablets but this works on her quite well.

Orla K

Ado86 wrote: »

Have you tried just putting it down the back of the neck and forcing him to swallow by syringing a small amount of water down after the tablet?
Wear a thick jumper (avoid the scratches) or have someone else hold him while he's wrapped in a towel with only his head out. I have a master at avoiding tablets but this works on her quite well.

The thing with that is he's half wild and won't let anyone except for me go near him. Also, as I have said earlier he is very strong and he's impossible to get into a towel, after the first time whenever he sees me with one he hides where I can't get him. Mixing it in with something very smelly does it for him.

lubie76

Hi Orla K. I get mine to take tablets by kneeling over them a leg either side so they are backing into me. Sit down so they can't go back any further and you have your two hands free to open mouth and pop tablet in. Close mouth and rub their throat and sometimes cover their nose just for a few secs so they instinctively swallow for air. I know it sounds a bit cruel but its only a short time and it works for any cat I have tried.

On a side note, well done! You are really doing a great job with this cat! He sounds like a stubborn fella!!!