Advice needed

All,

I've been posting recently under the thread "Hyperthyroid cat".
Katie's (age 14) been going through more problems and I need some
advice. She's been extremely finicky and has lost about three pounds.
Her thyroid is stable. The vet saw her today and says she appears to
have IBD. He's put her on Metronidazole and wants to do an Ultrasound
(to the tune of about $230). Also, one of her xrays showed possible
tumors on her heart and the vet suggests a cat-scan (Cost not
mentioned). I'm somewhat financially constrained and don't want to
put her through too much trauma as she reacts badly to it. I guess
what I'm wondering at this point is if the tests would show anything
that we could do anything about.. Anyone have experience in this area
that can share their thoughts?

Thanks

I can't say I have a lot of experience, but my cat was recently
suspected of having IBD and I did a lot of research online. Diet and
steroids are the main treatment options for this. The emergency clinic
I was at said the only definative way to diagnose IBD was by taking
biopsies of the intestine--so I don't know why your vet would suggest
an ultrasound? If she does have IBD, a simple diet change could work
wonders for her. check out this site: www.catnutrition.org I'm not
affiliated with it, but it has lots of info, including stuff on IBD and
diet.

As for the heart tumors, that's another issue entirely. I have no
knowledge about that, but it sounds scary to me. I'd opt for the cat
scan first and wait on the ultrasound (if it were my kitty).

Rene