Yes, it does sound like it was on the feces. Can you watch him when he goes, and check before he buries anything to see if it's a recurring thing? Also try sticking a cup or bowl under him as he starts urinating and make sure you don't see any blood in there.

I think it's possible for cats to have parasites/worms, even if nothing showed up in a previous fecal (if there were no eggs in the smaple, or if the parasite/worms weren't "shedding" at that time?). That could account for the belly.

Another thing that could cause blood would be scooting. Our cat Suki scooted practically her entire life. Our old vet expressed her anal glands on occasion to see if that helped, but they were never impacted or even very full, and she still scooted. Every now and again we'd see some light streaks of blood from her scooting on the carpeting. We and the vet suspected that she irritated her tush when she scooted it across the carpet.

I'd keep an eye on it for a day or so, but if it continues beyond that, it would be wise to get it checked out. Besides the above mentioned thoughts, If he ingested something that he shouldn't have, it could be irritating his insides.

Keep us posted and good luck!

Might be a bladder infection. But they are usually in pain from that. But animals sometimes don't like to show pain. Does it strain when peeing?

If it was blood in the stool, my guess is that you just irritated his bowel by rapidly changing his food. Food changes should ALWAYS be made gradually to avoid digestive upsets.

Try to observe him while he is expressing both urine and stool. You need to see where the blood is coming from. If it's in his urine, you need to get him to the vet IMMEDIATELY. If it's in his stool, talk to your vet and see if it's advisable to take a wait and see approach to see if it normalizes after his bowel has a chance to adjust to the new diet. It's also possible that he may have a type of parasite not discernible in routine fecal exams. That's another possibility to discuss with your vet.

Laurie

Time to go to the vet

Thank you for the replies. I'll definitely watch him closely and see if I find any blood coming from him. I'm putting him back on his old food. I have been trying to get him to eat canned food as well as dry food, is it ok to try different brands of moist food to see what he likes? Is it mostly a change with dry food that can irritate their stomachs? I'm still working with him to find a brand or flavour of moist food that he likes.

I plan to change his cat litter, should I hold off on that? I want to switch to a flushable brand since garbage odors has been a problem for me. Should I blend the new litter with his old one so he has time to adjust?

I'd take him off of dry food because it can cause problems with some cat's bladders. It affects two of mine this way, so I've seen it happen first hand -- no one will convince me otherwise : ) Wet food is better, and adding water to that is better yet. Yes, a change in diet can cause soft stools or even diahrea, so it's best to do it gradually.

And it's always prudent to change litters gradually too! They look, feel, and smell different and cats are very sensitive and particular, as well as being creatures of habit. They will notice! and it might throw them. If you're not sure how he'll react, just add a bit at a time. You might even try it in another box. He may actually prefer the new one. (Do use unscented litter -- it reduces the chance of going outside of the box due to the fragrance and they can also cause allergic reactions in some cats (like mine! my boys had itchy bumps on their head and ears).

I have a diaper genie to hold bags of dirty litter and contain the smell. It helps to tie the scoops up in a plastic bag or zip lock before putting it in the trash too.

btw, those big plastic, lidded litter containers are great for closing up the bagged and scooped stuff too, before taking it out.

Thanks for the pointers squirrelheaven. I bought him a basic starter kit with litter box, scoop and food dish. They also had liners but they interfered with scooping and I think he also found them annoying. I used them originally assuming they'd hold the smell in. I planned on picking out nicer stuff for him as I saw we got along. I was hoping to get a nice new litter box this month but if I take him to the vet all other purchases are going to have to wait.

I had used the big plastic container that the kitty litter came in to put bagged scoops but it got so nasty to open I threw the whole thing out on garbage day. I think my brother had a diaper genie, I wonder if he'd let me have it or at least borrow it. Flushable litter would make daily scooping not a problem but I wonder about the chemicals that might be in it.

We use scoopable litter, but the "extra-strength" version, which forms harder clumps (Everclean ES, unscented--it's a bit pricier than some other brands, but does the best job preventing odor IMO). We liked it better for two cats since the clumps are less likely to break apart with two of them going in/out of the box. The downside, is you can't flush it--it states on the box that it will clog the toilet. Once in awhile, if someone goes in and makes a stinky poop, I'll scoop it out, and either bag it and run it down to the trash can in the garage, or flush it down the toilet. I figure, the minimal amount of litter stuck to it isn't going to cause a clog.

Generally, we scoop the litter box twice a day. In the morning, DH scoops, puts it in a bag, and takes it down to the trash can in the garage on his way to his car before work. At night, he scoops again, and either takes it down with the garbage bag from the kitchen, or takes it down by itself if the garbage doesn't need to go down.

I don't know if it's possible for you to do anything like that, but if you can, it'll prevent odors from building up.

Actually, I wouldn't flush the flushables either. My plumber said the same thing. Don't know what they're made of these days, though. That was a number of years ago.