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Cats/Massive blood in urine

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Expert: - 2/8/2011


Question

Bladder
Hello,

My 12 year old female cat (Church) urinated almost all blood today. I went to a vet and the ultra sound showed either a large blood clot or tumor. She is extremely anemic because of the loss of blood. She is eating but very weak. The emergency vet seemed more interested in making money than helping my cat. I am a student and don't have very much money. She said I needed blood work, urine, and x-ray. I could only afford the blood test but it only showed she is extremely anemic. She wouldn't tell me anything helpful and kept changing her story. She gave me an antibiotic for my cat and I took her home. I am taking my cat to her regular vet in the morning but I was hoping for  your opinion. She is an indoor/outdoor cat. She spends most of her time indoors sleeping. She is going blind and the emergency vet said my cat has a heart murmur.

The Em Vet also said it could be from rat poison but my cat doesn't eat anything but cat food. She won't even eat her food if a bug gets in it so I highly doubt it. She never leaves the property so she couldn't have had any issues with being hit by a car. I am very worried and I have little money and don't want to spend what little I have on tests that won't help. Could you help please?

Answer
Hi Moe,

I'm very sorry to hear about Church.  I wish a more experienced ultrasonographer could have been present for the ultrasound.  I feel certain they could have distinguished between a blood clot and a tumor.  Having an ultrasonographer review the images at this point might be beneficial, but I imagine the ultrasound will likely need to be repeated by an expert.  

With this type of blood loss, I WOULD suspect that your cat has some type of clotting issue or a growth that is causing heavy blood loss.  Determining which can, indeed, be extremely difficult without a ton of tests.  However, if your cat has a clotting issue that would cause her to bleed so easily, you would probably not expect a large clot to form in the bladder.  It’s not impossible, but it’s improbable.  If this was my kitty, I would invest my money in the way of ruling in or out a growth in the bladder, first.  

If a growth is found, in order to stop the blood loss, the growth will probably need to be removed surgically.  But placing a weak kitty under anesthesia is a great risk.  You may need to consider a blood transfusion to stabilize her.  Cats only have two blood types except in the rarest of cases, so donors are easily found.

Once the growth is removed, it can be biopsied to determine if it’s cancerous, and if so, what type of cancer you’re dealing with.  A treatment protocol can be determined from there.

If no growth is found and your kitty does have a blood clot, I may consider an x-ray at this point to rule out bladder stones before getting too elaborate with blood work.  Because stones are hard and opaque, they don’t show up well on an ultrasound, but they do on an x-ray.  They can cause bleeding in the bladder and might be the cause of a blood clot, but I have never seen them cause bleeding to the point of severe anemia.  

If no growth and no stones are found, it would seem that your kitty is dealing with a clotting issue.  Blood testing to determine the cause of her anemia will be extensive.  Cancer causing the bone marrow to shut down (any kind of leukemia) is still high on the list.  Blood parasites can be a cause, too.  There could be the potential that a mouse that had eaten a rodenticide got into the home, and if she hunted it, she may have become poisoned that way, although I understand the chances of that are small with a finicky cat. Auto-immune disease can cause the body to kill its own red blood cells. The list goes on.  In many cases, the cat becomes too sick to survive before the cause is found.  I would recommend that you consider a blood transfusion to buy more time if you are considering getting to the bottom of this.

This is the order I would proceed in.  However, do discuss all of this with your vet to determine your best diagnostic approach based on their findings.

Best of luck!

Jessica  
    Questioner's Rating
    Rating(1-10)Knowledgeability = 10Clarity of Response = 10Politeness = 10
    CommentThank you so much for your detailed response. Unfortunately Church was so weak by the morning that she went into shock and her vet said it was best to put her down. She was in so much pain and the vet said it was cancer and had spread to her brain. I'm struggling to deal with her passing. It all happened so fast I am filled with guilt. I miss her so much and I wish that I could have saved her but she went downhill at rocket speed. She was amazing and like no other.


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Jessica

Expertise

The areas in which I have gained the most experience are cat health and feral cat management/rescue. I provide supportive care to chronically ill cats, hospice care to terminally ill cats and also am involved in trap-neuter-return efforts. My specialities lie in taming feral cats and in the allopathic treatment of cats with illnesses or special needs. I also have owned Siamese, Himalayans, Abyssinians, Russian Blues, Savannahs, Bengals, Peterbalds, Don Sphynx and Oriental Shorthairs and am well-versed in cat breeds as well as cat behavior and nutrition.

Experience

I have 15 years of extensive experience with cats ranging from breeding to medical care. My daily routine consists of caring for cats with diabetes, thyroid disease, kidney failure, feline leukemia, feline AIDS as well as feral cats. I have experience with liver patients, heart patients, feline infectious peritonitis, cancer, recovery from amputation and trauma, congenital deformities and most every disease in between. I have assisted cats giving birth and hand-nursed kittens who were neglected by their mother from 2 days old through weaning.

Education/Credentials
15 years' hands-on experience

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