edited to add: next vet appointment is September 10th.

I never thought I would ever be making one of these. I never thought I’d be so blindsided by something that is hard to believe. I have never been in a position like this to ask for help, but I’m giving it my all. My cat needs help and I almost have nothing left to give.

In May 2025 we noticed missile had lost a ton of weight and muscle mass. He started being picky with food and became a lot less active and laying around more. We took him to the vet to have some blood work done. We found out his liver was *mildly* elevated, nothing to worry about, sent us home with some steroids and was told to come back 4 weeks later. After we finished his medications I was having high hopes. We got his bloodwork tested again and it was still elevated, but not much from last time.

We were sent home with another round of medications. This time we got an antibiotic and more steroids. This time we thought the antibiotics that were given were stronger than before. The steroids were stronger than before.

4 weeks later we go into the vet with as much positivity as possible only to find out he is even worse shape. His liver values almost doubled in numbers. His Bilirubin is a 2.8 and jaundice set in around 2. We got sent to a specialist and we are dealing with the thoughts of cancer. Lymphoma. We have been given outrageous estimates just to get some ANSWERS. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to afford treatment. We do not know what the future holds.

luckily we were able to get a full ultrasound done, but it still doesn’t provide answers. We do know there are no masses, no swollen lymph nodes, the liver was not enlarged. The only thing that was off was the color of the liver was brighter than normal. Lymphoma is hard to detect. It isn’t a mass, it’s produces enzymes in the blood. We were told the cancer blood panel could give use false negatives and we will need to biopsy the liver and look at under a microscope to determine further diagnosis. We plan to do both procedures…just praying for the outcome we want. It’s so terrible knowing if he needs treatment it will most likely be triple the amount.

Missile is my entire world. I got him when I was 21 years old, I was going into adult hood, getting married and moving 8 hours away from home. There were many times him and I were on the road together. He was with me during all the “firsts” in life. If you ask my husband will probably tell you I love that cat more than him. He is now 9 years old. Almost a decade has been spent with him and I can’t imagine my life without this cat by my side. We have so many emotions and being in limbo is so draining on our mental health.

We just want answers. At this point I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get him feeling better. Donations aren’t expected but are very appreciated. We could never repay anyone for helping us get through this. I will give updates as we deal with this hard path we were given.