I'm so distraught.  My beloved Hobbes is having problems and is at the
vet right now as I type this post.  Yesterday I took him in because he
had been eliminating (#2) outside his litterbox a couple times which
is very unlike him.  He's almost 14 and has never done this.

Yesterday I took him in and they checked for diabetes because he lost
almost a pound since January which is really unusual.  He's been a
steady 18 pounds (he's a Maine Coon) forever.  He's been voraciously
eating lately and has been throwing up in the mornings on occasion.
(More than the norm with trying to get a hairball up and such.)  They
had to give him a small enema because the vet felt a hard stool which
he found some straw-like stuff about 5 inches long.  I knew that was
from an artificial plant pot and had seen my cat chewing and promptly
removed the stuff.  He then proceeded to pass two large normal stools
after that.  The vet sent the stool for testing and there are no
parasites.

The vet did say yesterday that if Hobbes threw up this morning that he
would probably need to take further action...meaning some xrays.  This
morning he threw up right after I fed him.  So he's in the vet's
office right now getting xrays.

I'm just wondering what this could mean?  I hope there are no more
strawlike substances in his intestines.  I'm also hoping it's not
cancer.  His blood work showed an elevation in his white blood cell
count.

I'm so worried.  As many of you know, our kitties are our hearts.
He's mine.  Thanks for listening.