Found a blood puddle in my room. Is it from one of my cats?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Waffle. I would have her examined by her veterinarian. She may have a urinary tract infection and be leaking blood tinged urine. She could also have a sore tooth causing her gums to bleed. Skin wounds are more obvious so I suspect that you would have seen one in checking her over. Check her litter box though and see if she has any evidence of blood in the urine clumps or diarrhea or stool that is blood tinged. I hope this information helps!

I do think it would be a good idea to see the vet but it can sometimes be very difficult to find the source of the blood in a situation like this. A sneeze is possible but you would probably also see some nasal discharge. If it is from urine I would expect that a cat would be visiting the litter box frequently or straining to urinate. Toenails and ears can also bleed if they are injured. Since blood in the urine in particular can be very serious I'd recommend seeing a vet sooner rather than later even if both cats seem fine otherwise.

Well I wouldn't expect any of the cats to be sick from the lilies if they just sniffed it and didn't actually ingest any of them. So that is not a concern, especially if you don't see any other overt signs of lily toxicity which would include vomiting, lethargy and a lack of appetite. However a cystitis or UTI is a possible cause of the bloody urine. One good way to determine which cat is responsible is to isolate one cat at a time in a small room with a clean litterbox in it for a day, then monitor the urine output for blood. Another thing you could do is to gently palpate (feel) the cats bladder (lower abdomen) to see which one seems uncomfortable or painful. You could also try to monitor the cats for 1 hr duration to see which one is constantly going to the litterbox. Chances are the one that is affected is going many times within the hour and will be noticeably drinking more water as well.

Check all orifice of the body to find out where the blood is coming from. Check his paws for cuts or other injuries. Your cat should not be bleeding. He could be suffering from bad teeth, bleeding abscesses or ulcers in the mouth, an intestinal problem, an infected anal gland or a urethral obstruction. If you find that the blood is coming from a small injury on a paw, clean the wound and observe whether the bleeding stops. If not, you can put a bit of cotton wool on the wound and leave it there, this helps coagulation. If the wound is large it needs to be seen by a vet. If you find that he is losing blood from his anus or penis, then he needs to be seen at a pet ER tonight as he may have a blocked urethra or a bleeding colon or rectum and will need prescription antibiotics or be unblocked if the urethra is blocked. Should he be bleeding from his mouth or have a painful mouth, he will need to be seen by a vet ASAP as these lesions in the mouth are very painful and could possibly keep him from eating and drinking properly. He may also need a dental cleaning and removal of the offending teeth. Sorry I cannot be more specific as I do not know where your kitty is bleeding from.

This is a difficult problem with that many cats, The best thing to do is isolate each cat in a separate part of the house and place a fresh litter box in the same room. You may want to use plastic to coat the bottom of the box and use only a small amount of litter allow you to see the urine in the box. You can isolate one cat at a time for a 24 hour period, Usually the culprit will be peeing more frequently and straining to urinate, so keep any eye on that behavior as well. Within a few days you will know which on is affected, then seek out your local veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment. Urinary problems in cats can often be related to high magnesium containing pet food. Science diet cat food is more urinary safe and would help avoid pet food related urinary problems in all your cats. Consult your veterinarian for additional help in preventing urinary tract disease. Best of luck. thats, Steve Popish, DVM

This is always tricky - the blood may have been in urine, stool or even a wound. I would recommend monitoring Ella very closely over the next few hours - if she is going to the litter box more frequently or if you notice the urine in the box looks discolored you should see a vet. If there are any more drops of blood it would probably be a good idea to see a vet even if you're still not sure where they're coming from - the vet can check a urine and stool sample and look closely for any wounds.

First off, I love Katniss Everclean's name! One option might be to confine whoever you think is the most likely culprit to a bathroom with a litter box and wait. This could take awhile if you choose wrong, and it can be a little stressful for a cat to spend a day confined so you may not want to go this route if any of your cats are easily stressed. I have also heard of veterinarians shaving up small pieces of different colored crayons (non toxic!) and putting the shavings into canned food to determine which cat might be having diarrhea or gastrointestinal issues. You probably don't have to worry about rushing to the vet if it is just a drop or two of blood in otherwise normal stool, so you could also just continue to monitor and see if you happen to catch someone in the act. If it is getting worse (i.e. if there is a large amount of blood or diarrhea) it should be easier to determine who the culprit is. Good luck - I hope you figure it out!