My foster baby isn't using the litter and saw blood in stool

Hi everyone! One of the cats I am currently fostering (Mala) is having some serious problems.

First things first, I was her foster mom for a couple of weeks but she quickly got adopted. Just on Sunday, 1.5 months after the lady adopted, she called and said she needed to be returned. She got Mala as a companion cat, but her cat was not liking Mala at all. Whenever Mala was in the litter, the resident cat would hit her & attack her. Mala stopped using the litter at the lady's house. In the weeks I had her, she never had that problem.

So she is returned to me and seemed really stressed out & uncomfortable. I had thought she was getting more comfy and then I found a couple piles of poo under an end table. Then looking further I found some mess in a couple of other places, haven't looked under her favorite spot the bed yet. I didn't look closely at them at all as they were in hard to reach spots. Then I found one soft mess with blood clearly in it. I also found pee in the bathtub.

Could the blood be because of stress? And it's quite obvious she isn't using the litter now because she connects it with being hit. I have confined her to the bathroom right now so at least their will be no mess on the carpet. Can anyone give me any suggestions on re-training her to use the litter? Is it even possible? My director said it may be impossible to retrain her I would LOVE any help you could give because she is such a sweet thing and I wouldn't want this to prevent her from being adopted.

THANKS!!!

 

Hi. She's very cute. Because of the blood in her stool, she needs to see the vet a.s.a.p. If possible bring in a fresh (within 24 hrs.) stool sample to her vet visit. One possible reason for not going in the litter box may be due to a medical problem and not so much a behavioral problem. I definitely disagree on not being able to retrain a cat to use a litter box again. The only reason this would not be possible is if the cat has some medical condition that is not being treated and so the cat may continue to go outside of the litterbox. Have her checked out by the vet first and then go from there.

 

what Chess said - blood in an indication that something is wrong

 

What they said. Please take Mala to the vet for a proper diagnosis. There could be lots of reasons for bloody stools- parasites, IBD, microbes, cholitis etc.

 

We are going to the vet right now I'll update when I get back~~

 

any update yet?

 

Well the vet is unsure exactly what it is. No parasites in her feces. Nothing wrong with her urine. He gave me a couple of meds to start her on (1 syringe for three days of Panacur Suspension & 1 capsule twice a day of Antirobe).
Also, her temp. was 105!! (He checked twice to make sure) ... What is a normal temp. for cats?

I have her home right now...but we are going back tomorrow because he wants to do some blood work on her & check other things.

Also, this morning before we went I actually saw her use the bathroom and it was the saddest thing She was pushing very hard & obviously struggling to get something out...she even made little cries!! And then just a tiny nugget came out. I told all of this to the vet & brought in her stool sample.

*sigh* I am super worried about her. Hopefully I can give a better update tomorrow.

 

The normal temp ranges from 100F-103F or 37.7C-39.4C The average is around 101.5F or 38.6C.

Poor kitty. I am very glad you are taking her to the vet again. I hope they find out what is wrong with her and are able to help her. Keep us posted.

 

buster had that once when it wasn't uranary tract infection and if i remember right he had newmonia

 

i will remember to ask about the pnemonia...
We couldn't get into the vet today as he had to go somewhere unexpectedly but she has been doing good as far as her meds. I haven't been able to check her stool....but she is still peeing in the bathtub.

 

Hi everyone. Mala has now been staying at the vet for FIVE days He is keeping her there on fluids and monitoring her. He has no idea what is wrong with her though...and can only think to attribute it to stress. *sigh* I feel so bad for my little foster baby. She moved around so much and now to be stuck in an animal hospital...probably thinking I'm never coming back for her I feel so bad! Her temp went down a little to 103 (it was originally 105, then 105.8) so the fluids must be helping a little.

Hopefully I can offer a better update tomorrow.

Sarah

 

I wanted to tell everyone the very sad update.

Today we humanely euthanized Mala We have had a VERY horrible past couple of weeks. On the phone constantly with the vet/bringing her back to him...she even stayed for a week at one time. She was put on fluids, they ran tons of tests, etc...And things just kept gettign worse & worse for her. She had a clear/blood liquid coming from her behind at least a couple of times an hour & was only having diarrhea with blood in it. And although she overall seemed to be in a fine mood (relaxing on my lap & snuggling with her cat buddies)...she was obviously not drinking enough water to make up for all of her fluid loss~so dehydrated, not as playful, more weak & when using the litter VERY uncomfortable and in a lot of pain.

The vet could never come up with a firm diagnoses for her. He kept telling me he referred to everything in his medical books from school plus consulted numerous other vets with no solutions...He said the next step would have been to consult a University for study. They did blood work three times on her, plus every parasite test, FIV/FIP, just about everything. Right before he put her to sleep he was said he never gets emotionally attached to patients but did feel that with Mala since the past month he has seen so much of her and actually spent a week straight with her...and he had to wipe his eyes (as I was bawling!!)...And he told me he felt like a failure and was very sorry...that this would be with him forever as something he couldn't help. And I know he did everything he possibly could...And so did my animal shelter. They went above & beyond doing everything they could for the poor baby spending about $2000 on a kitten who's adoption fee was only $90! lol

So I just wanted to update for everyone...and also vent for myself. This has been a very hard month for me sicne Mala was returned to our organization. It angers me to think that the person who adopted her must have known something was wrong but just told us she wasn't using the litter box when she was returned. *sigh* This was the first cat I ever fostered so I am having a hard time dealing with it. I have had two cats of my own which have passed away in front of me in my home but have never had an animal put to sleep

I did feel good though reading about a new cat that my shelter just got in today who is 4 years old. The owner of the cat was brought to the animal hospital to be put to sleep because the owners were moving and the animal hospital urged them not to do that & told our shelter. So in a way, I feel like one cat lost today...but one healthy, sweet cat was saved

So feeling a little better after venting. Thank you everyone for the advice at the beginning and for listening

 

I'm so sorry for your loss. :cry: