LitterLens can flag stool colours that may point to blood in cat stool, such as bright red or black and tarry, and it logs stool shape and how often each cat visits the box. It cannot confirm blood, and it cannot see blood that is mixed into stool and invisible to the eye. Treat any red or black flag as a reason to check the stool yourself and call your vet, who makes the diagnosis.
What Is LitterLens?
LitterLens is SiiPet's litter box camera that clips or sticks inside the box and tracks each cat's bathroom activity. It records visit count and visit duration, classifies stool by shape and colour, and logs urine clump events.
It recognizes individual cats in multi-cat homes, so each cat gets its own history. It builds a baseline for each cat over about 7 days and flags deviations from that baseline, which is more useful than a single absolute number. The camera has a night light for low-light use, and the app gives you the history without handling the litter.
How Does LitterLens Analyze Stool?
When a cat leaves stool in the box, the camera's image analysis sorts it by shape (hard, soft or watery) and by colour (black or tarry, red, grey, green, or orange-yellow). Those categories line up with the ones vets ask about when a cat has diarrhea, constipation or a possible bleed.
The stool images are useful to show your vet. They record what the stool looked like when it was fresh, which is often gone by the time you scoop.
Does LitterLens Detect Blood in Cat Stool?
Partly. LitterLens can flag red or black tarry stool colours, and you can review the image. It does not test for blood chemically, so it cannot detect occult (hidden) blood, and it does not tell you why the blood is there. Fresh red streaks, dark tarry stool or any blood should be checked by a vet.
Because alerts on abnormal stool are part of the optional Care+ plan, the free tier will show your visit counts and durations but will not send abnormal stool alerts.
What Causes Blood in Cat Stool?
| Cause | Description |
|---|---|
| Intestinal parasites (hookworms, coccidia) | Damage the intestinal lining and can cause bright red blood. |
| Anal gland issues | Irritation or impaction can lead to streaks on the outside of stool. |
| Constipation | Hard stool can tear tissue near the rectum and leave fresh blood. |
| Inflammatory bowel disease or colitis | Inflammation can produce mucus and blood in loose stool. |
| Tumors or ulcers | Bleeding higher in the digestive tract can look dark or, less often, bright red. |
Bright red blood usually points to the lower digestive tract, while tarry black stool suggests bleeding higher up. LitterLens can show you which colour it saw, but a vet exam and stool tests are needed to find the cause. PetMD's guide to bloody stool in cats and the Cornell Feline Health Center's page on inflammatory bowel disease explain these causes in more depth.
VCA Animal Hospitals covers constipation in cats, which can cause fresh blood on hard stool. For colour meanings beyond red and black, see what a cat poop colour chart means.
Why Is Early Detection Crucial?
Blood in stool can be linked to problems that get worse without treatment, and a cat that loses blood over time can become anemic. Noticing a change early gives your vet more to work with.
LitterLens does not replace scooping and looking. It adds a record of when changes started, alongside visit frequency and duration, so you can tell your vet whether the stool looked soft for one day or for two weeks. If mucus is also present, what mucus in cat poop means covers the next questions to ask.
How Reliable Is LitterLens Stool Flagging?
SiiPet does not publish an accuracy figure for blood-related colour flags, so treat every flag as a prompt to look, not a result. Lighting, litter colour, and how the stool sits in the box all affect what any camera can see. A false alarm is possible, and so is a miss, especially for small streaks or blood that is not visible.
For that reason, keep checking the stool when you scoop. If your cat has blood in stool, diarrhea that lasts more than a day or two, straining, lethargy or a change in appetite, call your vet whatever the app shows.
Can LitterLens Track Multi-Cat Homes?
Yes. LitterLens recognizes individual cats by appearance after you label each cat in the app, so stool findings are attributed to the right cat instead of the box in general. Recognition is designed for homes with up to about five cats, and accuracy drops above that. If you have ever asked yourself which cat left a bloody stool, this guide to the blood in the litter box mystery walks through the steps. Bundles for these homes are on the multi-cat health monitoring collection.
What Are Signs of Serious Cat Health Issues?
In addition to blood, watch for diarrhea, straining, or unusual litter box frequency. LitterLens logs how often each cat visits, how long each visit lasts, stool shape and colour, and urine clump events. Changes in those signals can help you decide when to call your vet. The cat health monitoring collection lists the available setups.
LitterLens does not detect parasites, blockages or cancer, and it does not diagnose anything. It can show that something changed. Your vet works out what it means. Frequent or long visits, stool changes and straining together are a stronger reason to call than any one of them.
How Does LitterLens Compare to Other Ways of Checking?
| Method | What it can show | What it cannot show |
|---|---|---|
| Scooping and looking | Stool colour, shape and blood you can see | When a change started or which cat it came from |
| LitterLens | Stool shape and colour, visit count and duration, per cat, with image history | Hidden blood, the cause, or a diagnosis |
| Vet exam and stool tests | The cause of bleeding and the right treatment | Day-to-day changes at home |
Key Takeaways
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LitterLens can flag red or black stool colours, but it cannot confirm or rule out blood.
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Use the stool images and visit history as notes for your vet consultation.
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Consistent monitoring helps you notice changes sooner, and your vet decides what they mean.
FAQs About LitterLens and Blood in Stool
Can LitterLens miss blood in stool?
Yes. Hidden blood cannot be seen by any camera, and small streaks can be missed. Veterinary confirmation is needed for any diagnosis.
What should I do if the app flags red or black stool?
Look at the stool yourself, note how many days the change has lasted, and call your vet. Black tarry stool or several red stools in a row deserve a call the same day.
Does LitterLens send alerts for blood?
Abnormal stool and data alerts are part of the optional Care+ plan. Without it, you can still see visit count and duration and review recordings.
Can LitterLens show whether a diet change affected stool?
Sometimes. Stool shape and colour history lets you see whether stool softened or firmed up after a food change. Whether the food is the cause is a question for your vet.
