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Your cat’s everyday behaviors may give an indication as to whether they are feeling better or worse. Pay close attention to their eating and drinking habits as your cat may stop eating entirely if suffering from digestive issues. Acting overly hungry and gorging can be another sign of problems. Reach out to your vet if your cat seems to lack energy as well. Try to watch your cat use the litterbox to observe any signs of stress as they pass stools. If your cat appears to strain or is shaking, or if they make repeated trips to the litterbox without producing any stools or urine, then that can be a sign of a problem. An adult cat should produce stools on an average of once a day. Their stools should be 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) long and about .5 inches (1.3 cm) wide. They should be brown in appearance, or sometimes as light as a tan. The odor can be noticeable, but should not be lingering or too strong. There are many types of blood that can be present in your cat’s stool and they all indicate different things in the body. Blood that appears red or pink can mean that the problem originated in the lower intestine or anal region. If the blood appears black or brown, then the problem likely exists in the small intestine and may be more problematic as a result. Your cat’s stools should be fairly firm in appearance. You should be able to pick up the stools with a scooper without them running through the gaps. When the colon is not operating properly, then water mixes with feces and creates stool that is loose and resembles diarrhea. On the other hand, rock hard stools can mean that the digestive system is not properly lubricated and your cat may be dehydrated. It is possible that your cat may take a while to recover from bloody stools, especially if they indicate an underlying digestive problem. Your cat may even need to spend part of their recovery period at the vet under observation. Just try to follow the vet’s instructions and this should speed up the recovery.
Watch your cat closely. Know what normal stool looks like. Know how to identify different types of blood in stool. Pay attention to the consistency of the stool. Be patient during the recovery period.