According to the appearance of the contents of the toilet tray, every pet owner is able to draw certain conclusions about the pet’s health. Moreover, the filler has to be cleaned regularly and it is impossible not to pay attention to the color of the feces. Black feces in cats is an alarming symptom, most often signaling problems associated with the upper digestive tract of your Maine Coon.
What causes black feces in cats
There can be 2 types of blood in the stool of pets.
- The discharge of the traditional red color indicates a lesion of the colon.
- Black-colored feces are a sign of blood flow from the upper small intestine. It has a longer path and there is time for decomposition. This explains the contrasting dark color.
The appearance of such feces (in medicine it is called melena) is an alarming sign, most likely requiring the help of a veterinarian. It is impossible to make an unambiguous diagnosis without laboratory testing. Therefore, home treatment or delay in visiting the clinic only aggravates the situation.
What causes black feces in cats
The difficulty lies in several types of lesions, each of which leads to darkening of the feces.
- In nervous, stressed animals, a small amount of blood may be released against the background of psychological irritation. The case, of course, is rare and does not have a long course.
- In a state of excitement, cats can swallow foreign objects (pieces of toys, scraps of rope, splinters of wood). Any of them is capable of puncturing or scratching the mucous membrane, provoking the release of blood.
- Ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract usually occur in the upper part of the esophagus. They do not heal naturally, the cat’s body cannot cope with the disease on its own.
- Ankology. In a holistic state, tumors do not cause fecal bleeding. But if there is mechanical damage to the shell, the result will immediately affect the color of the stool.
- The intestines are capable of infecting infections and parasites. For example, melena manifests itself in the following cases: fungal infections; feline panleukopenia virus, leukemia, immunodeficiency, coronavirus; parasitic infestations.
- Poisoning. Most often we are talking about rat poison, which enters the body both directly and together with the remains of rodents that died from it.
- Traumatic consequences also cause bleeding in the colon. A strong blow or a cat falling from a height can cause her to have dark feces.
Kittens and elderly animals are most often exposed to danger. Their immune system is either not yet fully formed (in the first case), or weakened due to age. Therefore, black feces in cats from these two categories should cause an immediate reaction from the owners.