Take heart. Two of our beloved cats incurred the same condition. We learned so much with the second cat that I wish I could have given the same help to the first. (The first also suffered from cancer.)
Here is an important thing I learned with both of them. The vet recommended we use a medicated diet to help ease the burden on her kidneys. Yet the medical diet had no appeal to either cat. I knew they would starve if confined to the medicated diet, so instead I fed them food that perked them up and made them happy—fancy feast, especially the types with gravy. There was nothing to lose and the second cat survied FIVE YEARS on this diet, along with grocery store kibble. She could have gone longer, but ultimately her mind was slipping and we then put her to sleep due to her diminished quality of life, at 18 or 19 years of age.
Also extremely vital were sub-qutaneous fluids, as your vet may have told you. The vet told us that no cat survives longer than three years with this condition, and as I’ve said, ours survived FIVE years and could have gone further.
At first sub-q fluids seem a difficult procedure but it gets easier with experience. For our obstreperous cat it was a big challenge until we found something called a “cat sack” on Amazon. With this cloth device, we could zip her up and control her while we administered the fluid, which eventually we did every other night. The vet didn’t tell us about the “cat sack,” we had to discover that ourselves.
Invest your time and love and you may well find Ciel is having a big rebound and can have lots of happy life to come. I certainly hope and have prayed so. These friends are so special.
We are going to do the first sub q in the morning, he will hold and I will do the needle. I love the idea of a cat sack. At least she is small and slender to hold. Thanks for the tips! Will let you know how it goes.