Expert: Jessica - 5/17/2010

Question
Hi, I have a 2 year old neutered male cat.  He is my baby, he is in good health now about a year ago he was over weight but he has been on a good diet and he is back down to a very good weight.  He is pretty active and will go outside occasionally with me.  Tonight while he was laying with me he was on his back and I noticed something that was on the tip of his penis.  It seemed to be dried blood and his penis seemed to be a little red.  I did a little research and learned more about urinary track infections in cats and just wanted to get an opinion from someone who would know more then me.  I watched him today carefully and when he went to his litter box I paid careful attention and he seemed to urinate fine.  There was no blood in the urine after that I could see and no blood on his penis.  He did however have a little left over litter still stuck to him and its not entirely like him to really sit in his litter box that closely.  He does not seem to be going there excessively, or licking his gentiles more then normal.  Could this have been something else that I am just over reacting to? I'm just a concerned mom that wants to make sure that I catch anything early enough for it to be helped if it can be.  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Becky.  Cats hide things so well that when we do finally see a hint, it's usually an indication that something is certainly going on.  I think I have visited the vet twice and found that I was apparently making things up - the rest of the time, my nervousness has been well-founded.  Sometimes something very wrong has been brewing for quite a while.

The only way I can imagine that blood would get to his genital area except through the urine or by damage from overgrooming is bleeding from the mouth during normal grooming.  A surprising number of young cats have significant oral disease.  You may want to check his teeth and gums.  On a separate note, I'm not sure if it was or not, but if his actual penis was exposed at rest, this would certainly seem to indicate some sort of inflammation there.  

There is a cat litter called Health Meter that will change colors if there appears to be a problem with your cat's urine, so you could use this as a screening tool.  Because males are at risk for urinary tract blockages from blood clots as well as urinary crystals, I think I would err on the side of caution and get him in for a vet visit and urinalysis.  This is absolutely one of those areas where an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

Best wishes!

Jessica