What the deal is with my cat (for those interested)

My poor elderly baby has been having digestive issues for a while. The vets gave several pieces of advice, to no avail, and she just kept getting thinner and thinner with a lot of mushy poop.

At last we found out ZD helps firm things up but it firmed things up TOO much and she had a big constipation crash with green bile pukes. I had to take her to the emergency vet.

They suggested abdominal ultrasound to determine if it was either food allergy, IBS or small-cell lymphoma. Right now everything in veterinary care is SUPER backed up, especially in the Seattle area. Even getting into an emergency vet was extremely hard. Thankfully the PNW wakes up late and I managed to sneak in early in the morning, otherwise I'd have been out of luck.

The ultra-sound suggested either IBS or small-cell (needs an endoscopy to be sure) but she's just so thin, and it's so hard to get appointments, I opted to start treatment for the IBS.

Things have been really up and down. She'll do alright, but then she'll either get constipation and I'll have to give her meds for that and also have to make sure she's drinking, or she'll just be soup pooping and losing weight. I've tried all the hydration tricks but just, balancing things has been really difficult.

Last night she was so dehydrated I had to syringe electrolyte into her and of course she perked up enough to crawl back and forth on my head all night (usually she's not allowed in my room while I'm sleeping for that reason!) so like ...... I'm so tired but also so glad she's alive and now eating well and hydrating.

Her steroid medication for the IBD SHOULD really start to kick in between one and two weeks, if she's going to respond to it, and hopefully she'll be on the mend. Once she's got some weight back after a few months the meds can be tapered off and we can test for small-cell. We can't while she's on the steroid because the meds hide the disease.

Last night was terrible but this morning she's doing so much better, and that's the way it's been going. This emotional rollercoaster stuff really gets me and I avoid it like the plague but like, I'm going to do what I can to save my cat. She's such a good cat!! Everyone's cat is good, but this cat, she's like the nicest person in the world.