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an appetite stimulant, he's somewhat livelier. His eyes are brighter and he's eating squeeze ups with enthusiasm; he had FIVE yesterday (for those unfamiliar with kitty squeeze ups, they're about the size of a small meal for a cat). He's also "tracking" what's going on more than he was on Sunday. But yesterday, he showed zero interest in doing anything other than lounging, napping, drinking water, peeing and having a squeeze up brought to him. I'm getting such mixed signals from him.

Today I took him to his regular vet for a sort of second opinion, I guess. Both bff and our friend "B" seemed to think Leo was much improved even from Monday to Tuesday, and both suggested he might just have pancreatitis, which is treatable with...an antibiotic and fluids. Which is what Leo's getting right now (he only had the single shot of antibiotics at the emergency vet though). At today's visit, the vet weighed Leo (he's lost a LOT of weight--he's down to just under 6 pounds) and checked his mouth for an infection, which was what I was hoping was the root of his current lack of interest in eating (his mouth was fine). She was open to the idea of Leo having pancreatitis and was willing to give him a little more time to see if there's any improvement in his condition. Leo got a shot of pain medicine--he's been walking a little stiffly--and came home with a bag of saline plus a topical appetite stimulant that will be much easier to give him. I was warned that Leo does indeed have a heart murmur, and it's a tightrope trying to give him enough fluid to help with the (possible) pancreatitis but not so much as to further damage his heart.

I *know* we're just buying time here. I Googled "how long can a cat live with stage 4 kidney disease?" and as often happens, the answers were all over the place, ranging from a month after diagnosis to years. I don't want to prolong Leo's time on Earth if it's not going to be quality time, so for now, I'm just watching to see if he seems to still be enjoying life or if he's just existing.

The roller coaster ride continues...