If the behavior of your pet has changed dramatically, it has become apathetic, painful in appearance, and if blood suddenly appears from the anus of a cat, all this may be due to the fact that the animal became ill with pancreatitis. You can learn more about the disease and how to cure it from this article.
What is pancreatitis?
What can cause a cat’s blood from under the tail? In the vast majority of cases, this is pancreatitis - a very common gastrointestinal upset in pets. Scientists used to believe that cats are much less susceptible to this disease than dogs, but the most recent studies suggest the opposite.
Unfortunately, in most cases, a cat’s pancreatitis disease goes unnoticed until there are clear signs of the disease.
Pancreatic function
The pancreas in cats performs two functions at once. It is an endocrine organ that produces hormones that regulate body functions. And also the exocrine organ is a source of enzymes necessary for the digestion of food in the stomach.
There are many problems with the proper functioning of the pancreas that can occur in animals. The endocrine part may fail in terms of balanced hormone production. The most common example is diabetes. In this case, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.
There are also many common diseases caused by problems with the exocrine part. The pancreas can stop producing the required amount of enzymes, which in turn will cause a condition called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. In this case, the pancreas becomes inflamed due to the fact that the enzymes that must enter the digestive tract remain in the gland itself and begin to corrode it from the inside. This causes blood from the anus in the cat.
Mechanical injuries, infections, parasites, idiosyncratic reactions to certain medications are most often called by doctors as the most likely causes of the disease. But there is still no clear opinion on what causes pancreatitis in cats.
Most cases of disease (> 90%) cannot be caused by just one specific cause. The risk of pathology is higher in Siamese cats, as they are more prone to it at the genetic level.
Clinical signs of pancreatitis in cats
The clinical signs of the disease described are quite diverse and usually differ from signs of pancreatitis in dogs. The latter have vomiting and signs of abdominal pain, while in cats the disease manifests itself in the form of weak or absent appetite, lethargy, sudden weight loss, dehydration and diarrhea. Vomiting and abdominal pain can also be signs of pancreatitis in cats.
Unfortunately, in these animals, pancreatitis very often takes on a chronic character. Feline pancreatitis is less acute than in dogs, but lasts longer. In some cases, when the disease gets out of control, it can affect not only the gastrointestinal tract, but also other parts of the body. For example, the respiratory system can be significantly affected.
Pancreatitis is a very serious disease, and if the owner of the pet sees blood from the anus of the cat, he must immediately take the animal to the veterinarian.
Pancreatitis Diagnosis
Diagnosing pancreatitis has been a problem for many decades. The main difficulty is that the disease cannot be diagnosed solely on the basis of clinical signs, as lethargy, lack of appetite, dehydration, vomiting and diarrhea are signs of many other diseases that are not associated with pancreatitis.
Another factor that greatly complicates the detection of the disease is that pancreatitis almost always runs in parallel with some other ailment (most often associated with liver disease).
A few years ago, a new method of examination was developed and introduced, which allows you to clearly understand how well the pancreas produces digestive enzymes, and how much they enter the stomach.
There is another very high-quality test that allows you to understand more about the condition of the animal’s pancreas. Its name is an examination of pancreatic immunoreactivity. As shown by experimental and clinical experiments, the test very well demonstrates the presence or absence of an inflammatory process in the pancreas of a cat. It is carried out in the form of a conventional blood test.
Treatment
Treating pancreatitis in cats can be as complex as diagnosing the disease. Constant care and attention to the pet is the most important point in therapy. First of all, the owner of a sick animal must do everything to remove the causes that could potentially provoke the development of the disease.
Regular intravenous therapy is also an important aspect of treatment. Medicines to prevent vomiting and relieve pain are a must. If an infection is suspected as the cause of the disease, antibiotics are necessary. Appetite stimulants should be given to the animal with a complete lack of desire to eat.
In most cases, with proper treatment, the pet recovers completely from the disease and returns to normal. Nevertheless, possible relapses will always be a potential problem, so the owner should always closely monitor him. If there is blood from the anus of a cat, you must immediately take the animal to the hospital.