Kidney Kitty

We always knew Pounce was our special needs cat. He is a large cat with 22 toes, lack of coordination, some vision issues, and non-functional side claws. He is very lovable and definitely has a fun personality. A few weeks ago, we noticed some major changes in his personality and health. Initially, we assumed he would recover and be fine. However, many aspects of his personality were not evident and he was not himself. We took him to the vet where he ended up in a kitty hospital for a couple days. He was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure which is a terminal condition. As the result of this diagnosis, we don't know how long we have left with him. Since coming home, his personality fully returned. While we have him, we have to give him kidney medicine twice a day, anti nausea medication once a day, feed him prescription kidney diet food, and give him 100 ml of extra fluid through an iv line once a day. Nicole and I have been appointed the "pokers" and are the ones who insert the needle into the cat. We have learned this is most easily done with 3 people. One of us pokes, the other squeezes the fluid bag, while the 3rd person-Keith or Zack-holds Pounce and keeps him calm for the 1-2 minute ordeal. The last time we took him for a kidney function test, his levels had improved by quite a large amount. He is not cured, but is holding in there. While at the vet for the blood draw, he tried to hide himself in the corner near the cabinets of the examination room. I guess he didn't want the vet to decide he needed to stay. :)