What's inside my kitty?

Sorry in advance about this long post.

Miles turned 12 in February. She's always been a bit fragile. She has mild asthma, heart murmur, upper respiratory infections, and she kept having reoccurring uti's in 2010 which led to her having bladder surgery. Anyways, miles has always been a bit of a compulsive groomer. She has always been a big shedder even if I brush her everyday. However, in December she started shedding massive amounts of hair. I would brush her multiple times a day (she only allows me to brush from her neck to her tail and back legs. no tummy, sides or legs) and after a few mins I would have about 5 large handfuls of hair! In December I noticed she had the occasional hair ball, she has never had hair balls prior to December. The hair balls started becoming more frequent, going from about one a week to every couple days. I started brushing her more often which seemed to help a bit but it was only temporary. Around February is when there was brownish liquid that came up with the hair ball. I assumed that it was because she recently ate her canned food and that was the reason for the brown color. Other than the occasional vomiting every few days she was still eating, drinking, playing and using the litter box the same as she has always done. Around the end of February was when the vomiting started to become more frequent. She was expelling hair balls almost daily, I was still brushing her but she was still shedding tons. I bought a hair ball remedy gel for her and it worked, no hair balls at all but then she refused to eat it after a few weeks. Around 3 weeks ago was when I noticed a big change in the vomit, it was daily and projectile. Also, there would be food in it along with the hair ball. 2.5 weeks ago I took her to the vet and they ran blood work and checked her thyroid. All of her lab work came back as normal, her thyroid test was great as well. The vet said that miles looked great during her physical exam. However, she did lose a bit of weight. She's always been a smaller cat at around 8-9 pounds but she was 7 pounds 12 ounces at her appointment. The vet couldn't give me any answers on what was wrong with miles. I paid $240 for the vet to tell me to buy a new brush for miles and keep brushing her. I was frustrated and upset I didn't get any answers and miles took a turn for the worse several days after her appointment. She refused to eat her fancy feast (she's always been a big food lover!). I bought a different brand of food to see if she would eat it and after almost 2 days of not eating she finally ate some. I really thought she was going to go to kitty heaven but she decided to keep fighting. I moved from FL to MI recently and have not been able to find a decent vet in the area. So I decided to try a different vet and get a second opinion. The second vet said that once again miles looked great during her exam. This visit was 8 days after her previous vet visit and miles now weighed 7lbs 5oz. I knew she lost more weight due to her not eating for almost 2 days and eating very small amounts. The vet gave us antibiotics for her "tummy bug" and told me to give her 1/4 tablet of 10mg Pepcid. I decided to not give her the antibiotics since her white blood cell count was in the normal range after her blood work the prior week and I was afraid that the antibiotics would upset her tummy even more. I left the vet once again feeling frustrated and hopeless. Miles started improving for a few days with the Pepcid. She was eating the small frequent meals I offered her, and did not vomit for a few days. However, she stopped grooming herself. I could tell she was gaining a bit of weight and she was trying to be more active. Unfortunately in the past few days she was taking a turn for the worse again (she started vomiting again) she was also developing an upper respiratory infection. I made an appointment with a different vet that was referred to me. Miles was dehydrated, very lethargic and she has not pooped for a week. I took her in yesterday to the new vet, she had a temperature and now lost another 4 ounces. They did an X-ray and saw something large in her stomach. The vets 3 options were exploratory surgery, overnight fluids with more X-rays in the morning or giving her that barium (I think that's what it's called?) powder to see what the obstruction may be. I decided to keep her there overnight and give her fluids since she was so dehydrated. I don't want her to be put through surgery if its not 100% needed. This morning they did the X-rays again and the large mass in her tummy has now started to go into her intestines. The vet called and said we could do exploratory surgery, or send her 40 mins away for a $500 ultrasound that may or may not help figure out what's inside of her. Also, the vet said she was doing better and she did not vomit at last night. The last time miles threw up was wednesday. I'm at such a loss of what to do. The vet said that they ruled out an obstruction caused by her eating a random foreign object (miles never eats random stuff and whatever is in her is way too big for her to swallow in one sitting). I asked if it was a tumor, wouldn't it be attached to her stomach and not moving freely through her system into the intestines? The vet agreed that a tumor wouldn't do that. I don't want to have miles put under anesthesia and cut open if their are less invasive solutions. I am at such a loss of what to do. I have already spent over $800 to find out what's wrong with her. Miles is so skiddish and scared of even going out on our patio, let alone being in the kitty hospital. I don't want to stress her out, I can't afford thousands of dollars of vet bills but I don't want miles to suffer. She's gotten so small and weak I feel guilty I can't get answers for her. She has always been such a strong little girl that fought through her previous health issues. I feel like it's kinda promising that whatever is in her tummy is moving through her system though. I think it might be a giant hair ball but I'm not a vet so who knows. I told the vet to keep her on the fluids and I will call back in a few hours to see how she is, in the meantime im trying to think of what is best for her. Sorry this is so long I just feel so lost and upset about this. Is it possible that this is a hair ball that is passing through her system? Has anyone had a similar experience or know what might be the problem? I don't know what the next step should be. I am thinking of keeping her on the fluids and having miles get another X-ray in a few hours to see if the large mass inside her has moved any further. I worry that if it is a hair ball it will get stuck in her intestines. I'm desperate for any thoughts or advice on what to do! Please help I just want to help miles without putting her through more pain or unnecessary stress. I was 12 when I became blessed to welcome her into my life. I am 24 now and she's gotten me through some very dark times. She's been with me for over half of my life, she's my best friend and I cry at the thought of her going to kitty heaven but I can't sit and watch her waste away in front of my eyes. Please any help or advice on what I should do or what might be wrong with her?!

I really feel for you. This is a difficult decision. From your history, I would tend to agree with you that the mass is a large hairball. I too would be worried about it getting stuck in her intestines. Going on that theory, did the vet suggest anything safe to help break up the hairball to make it easier to pass?

I think you have 2 choices. 1) Keep her at the vet with frequent x-rays to see if the mass is passing through her system. 2) Surgery to remove mass. This is obviously risky and expensive but may be the only option if the mass either gets stuck or can't be passed by her system. Was the vet concerned about surgery with her heart murmur? I can see how the ultrasound might be useful as a diagnostic tool, but at this point, you already know that whatever it is needs to come out, so I'm not sure the US will be that helpful in terms of making a decision. Since the vet agrees that it's not a tumor and likely not a foreign object obstruction, does he have any theories on what it could be? Did you discuss the hairball issues?

I would wait for this next set of x-rays. If the mass seems to be passing at a normal rate, I would ask the vet if closely monitoring during this process and treating her in the meanwhile is an option. If not, then what are the risks with surgery, understanding that you may not have a choice. Miles may need the surgery regardless of the risks if the mass gets stuck.

I am so sorry that you and Miles are going through this. Many many vibes for a successful resolution. Whatever you decide, I am sure that Miles knows that you are doing the best you can for her.

 agree completely with everything vball said.  If this moving mass is that large, will it be able to be expelled via her intestinal tract without causing her immense trauma?  Does the Vet think it's possible it's a hairbaill?  (I'm asking the same questions as vball)  If it IS a giant hairball, is there anything they can give her to help break it up to help it pass, OR even if they suspect it's a hairball, can they give her something to try to break it up.

Poor Miles!   Yes, you may not have any choice by to do the surgery at this juncture.  (not exploratory, but to get whatever it is out)  I'm guessing surgery may not be much more expensive than an ultrasound, but I could be wrong.

Thank you for not only reading my veryyyy long post but for also replying!
I decided to keep miles on the fluids and have another X-ray done at 7pm to see if it's moved though her intestines. I'm going to go visit miles at 8 and look at the new X-rays. The vet on duty today was wanting to do more diagnostic stuff (ultrasound, exploratory surgery) and didn't really say what he thought was inside of her. The vet that was recommended to me will be on duty tonight when I go so hopefully she has a better idea about what might be going on and possible remedies. I have discussed the possibility of it being a hair ball and the vet agreed that it is quite likely that is what's going on. Depending on what tonight's X-rays show we will go from there. I'm not opposed to getting surgery done to remove the hair ball (or whatever it is), I just wasn't comfortable with doing exploratory surgery right off the bat (especially with her heart murmur and frail condition). Thanks for the questions and advice. Hopefully whatever is in her they can get out naturally, but if not then miles will have to undergo surgery.

So....what was the discussion last night?  Really curious situation here. (and really curious reader as well )