GI issues continue to compound

My not-quite-5-year-old cat, Molly, has had stomach problems off and on her whole life - diarrhea when she was a kitten, occasional spots of blood in the stool from ages 2-4, and then in the past year, 2 episodes (about 6 months apart) that lasted 24-48 hours of vomiting 4-5 times in rapid succession each time she ate.  Over the past few months she had been doing well on a new food, and I thought we had gotten a handle on the situation until this weekend, when she started having extremely watery diarrhea and a decreased interest in eating, and she started scooting her butt across the floor - something neither cat has ever done before.  I had her seen first thing this morning at the emergency vet after it was clear that the diarrhea wasn't going to improve on its own, and they did an ultrasound, which showed a thickening of the colon, some sort of mystery "debris" in her bladder, and enlarged lymph nodes in her stomach.  This is the first test she has had that has shown anything abnormal - extensive bloodwork and x-rays have all come back normal in the past few months.  

The doc did a biopsy of the enlarged lymph nodes, but I won't have the results for a few days.  I'm feeling so overwhelmed by everything - every time I take her in the news seems to be worse.  We've gone from diagnoses of upset stomach to food allergy to possible cancer in a few short months, and this all for a relatively young cat that is otherwise happy, playful, interested in food, and maintaining her weight (which I know is too high and have worked very hard to bring down - but in any case not what you think of with a sick cat).  

This is all complicated further by my other cat, who also has stomach problems (also undiagnosed at this point) but seems to do best on the food that makes Molly the sickest.

I'm so terrified that the news is going to be bad for Molly.  I don't even know what good news would be at this point.  I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her healthy, and have always done my very best to be a good caregiver, but I'm starting to feel totally powerless to do anything that can help. 

Not expecting that anyone here has the answers about what to do, but it helps to just share my worries with others who might have been there before, and of course all positive thoughts are appreciated.    

Right now all I can do is send some of these famous TCS vibes that the results of the biopsy are good. 

Once everything is ruled out, then maybe we can start to work on what it might be.  Let us know as soon as you get the results.

The situation has developed in the past few hours.  My other cat, Mickey, developed the same exact consistency/color diarrhea this afternoon.  The vet said that it would be ok to give him the same anti-diarrheal/antibiotic that she prescribed for Molly, but unlike Molly, Mickey was totally uninterested in the wet food that I offered it in.  Normally both these cats go bonkers over wet food, no matter how they are feeling, so I know he was feeling pretty awful.  I managed to drop the pill down his throat and he eventually ate a little wet food after much encouragement, but I would say he is acting far sicker than Molly ever did.  She now seems like she feels fine, and no diarrhea since the initial dose of medication this afternoon.

On the one hand, I'm so relieved that Molly's inflammation now seems most likely to be an immune response to some sort of parasite/bacteria that they have both picked up (i.e. not cancer), but on the other hand I'm worried about what exactly they might have that is making Mickey so sick.  

A diagnostic note: they are both strictly indoor cats that don't interact with other animals.

Thank you for the good vibes!!!  I'll definitely follow up with more info once I have it.

One other note for now: the change I can identify over the past few days in their lifestyle/diet/etc is that I dumped a new bag of Hills Prescription Diet i/d (dry) into their feeder.  That was done on Thursday, but there was a tiny amount left of the old food in the bottom of the feeder, so they probably wouldn't really have been eating food from the new bag until Friday or Saturday.  

By pure chance I still have the packaging (score one for laziness in taking out the trash), but I don't know which of the numbers stamped all over it are relevant.  Just in case this means anything to anyone, on one side is printed:

4629

LCN 1231.10

And the other side is stamped with:

K1350805 F6 318

 I'm planning to take it back to my vet tomorrow and have them send it in for testing, just to be safe.

You could call Hills and ask them if anyone has reported issues with any of their I/D kibble.  Then give them those numbers so they have it on file in case others call after you.  I'm guessing there is a toll free number on that bag.

The test results are back and all seems to be well!  The bloodwork was normal, except for slightly low phosphorus, which I was told doesn't mean a whole lot of anything on its own, but just to keep an eye on it.  The biopsy results just showed that she was reacting to inflammation in her colon - no signs of lymphoma.  I don't have the words to say how relieved I am.

Both cats have now been on metronidazole for two full days and no more signs of diarrhea. They are also back to having their usual ravenous appetites.  

My only lingering concerns are 1) that neither has pooped for a few days (I suppose that's to be expected with all the diarrhea over the weekend plus the medication, but I'd still be happier if I saw normal bodily function) and 2) figuring out what caused this in the first place.  I returned the food to my vet, who is going to send it back to Hills for testing.  I'll post info if I learn anything from that.  

A million thanks to those who sent positive thoughts!

Hooray for a great biopsy report!  And glad they are back to normal .  Yes, I would think no poop after that diarrhea is kind of normal.