occasional bloody diarrhea
 

My cat (1 1/2 yrs old) had diarrhea on and off for about a month, occasionally with bright red blood in it. In this time she switched foods a few times, and was subject to some stress(long car rides, a new environment with other pets). I took her to several vets, and had a stool sample analyzed, which came out negative. She is currently on Hill's c/d-s diet. For the past few weeks, she has had normal stools, with one isolated incident of bloody diarrhea. Throughout this whole time, she has been energetic and has maintained a very healthy appetite. Essentially my question is, is it possible for her to have had these instances of bloody diarrhea and be essentially healthy? The vets I have seen haven't been able to make a diagnosis, and I don't want to subject her to continual vet examinations and blood tests, x-rays, etc if this is not necessary.

Frequent dietary changes and stress-related occurrences are a good recipe for bowel disease in any pet. If she has been on c/d-s for quite some time already it is unlikely an intolerance to the food, although if there have been changes, there may be some hypersensitivity or allergy to one of the other foods and this may be causing an IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). The first step I would consider is switching her to a food designed for an inflammatory bowel disease eg i/d or a true Vet clinic only hypoallergenic food. Secondly you may need to consider stomach lining protectants. If this does not produce a result, treatment for colitis - specific antibiotics and a different diet - w/d - may need to be considered. Finally if this doesn't work, sometimes a course of cortisone may be considered to tame the bowel inflammation and response however I am not a great proponement of just placing them on this drug without getting a positive diagnosis of an intestinal biopsy.

Good Luck.

Martin Slome DVM

Centre Street Animal Hospital
7700 Bathurst Street Units, 40-42
Thornhill
Ontario
L4J 7Y3

Tel. (905) 771-9855

Hello, I have a 1.6 YO Silky Terrier and she has had the exact same problem. I took her to two Vets and niether one had any clue what was/is wrong with her. I have found tho that I cannot give her an excess of training treats or the problem recurs. This of course makes traning her a bit more difficult. :(
I currently have her on Eukanuba Lamb and Rice and she seems to be doing fine. Like I said I just need to watch the treats. The vets wanted her on one of the Hills Diet foods you both mentioned, but I do not like Hills Diets ingredients. Any way I wish you luck and good health to you and you pet.

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