Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 4/10/2009

Question
We just purchased a siamese. She is 1 1/2 yrs old, only had her 1st kitten shots, unaltered, and weighs about 3 lbs. You can see every bone in her body, and when we got her home, we knew something wasnt right. We planned on taking her to the vet soon - but it's the long weekend. I wondered if she hasnt been absorbing her food properly or something. After purchasing, I contacted owner and she cannot find vet where shots were at, and doesnt remember name. We are in different areas over 1 hour away.
My husband cleans the litter every day because we have 1 foster cat, and 2 cats of our own - all siamese. Plus this one now. Tonight when cleaning out litter, he found alittle blood (bright red but also diluted), and then foul smelling feces that was almost like diarhea. SO I got gloves on and went through the litter boxes, found nothing else similiar, went through house - no blood. No worms anywhere on cat or in feces. We know it was the new female, we saw her go in and do it.
She is now kept separate from our other cats and children until we can get her to a vet (TUESDAY!!!!).
If not worms, what else could it be? She didnt just start this in less than 24 hrs of being with us, the previous owner had to of known, didnt she? The cat doesnt look right, ven though she is VERY affectionate and has not been shy with us since the beginning and comes when called. Any suggestions on getting through the weekend? She IS eating & drinking.

Answer
Rachel -

There are many reasons why your cat may have blood in her stool.  Intestinal parasitism is the most common factor - if there are worms in the stool, you may not see them.  Often they are worm eggs and they are microscopic.  The fact that she is very thin my indicate that she has a heavy load of intestinal parasites. Your vet will perform a fecal exam to determine what (if any) parasites she in infected with and will know what to use to treat the infection.   

Blood in the stool may indicate stress.  Your pet has a new home and she may be stressed because of the new environment. Anything new can be viewed as stressful to some animals, especially a Siamese cat.

As long as she is eating and drinking normally, there should be no immediate reason to worry.  Have her evaluated by your veterinarian as soon as you can.  

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM