Quick update - figured I'd add one last one to this thread to kind of close it out.
Spike is still doing well, and just had a follow-up appointment Wednesday. Everything number-wise is pretty much the same as it was two weeks ago - which doesn't surprise me and which I'm okay with; I don't know why, I just had a feeling. He's back to his normal self in all other ways, and still loving the extra attention all of this is getting him.
His CREA is 2.8 (.1 increase but that's not clinically significant per vet), BUN 26 (so it's actually now in the middle of normal). I left the rest of his bloodwork at work, but everything else was within or very close to normal - electrolytes, phosphorus, PCV, etc. He had lost a little wieght (1/3 lb), so we're going to keep an eye on that. He's down to 11 from 13.5 before all of this - but TBH he was kinda of chub at 13.5 so as long as he doesn't keep losing, 11-12 is fine. I'm getting ready to order a baby scale off Amazon so I can track it at home.
He's finishing up the antibiotic in a couple of days (5 week course), and we're taking him off the Pepcid since his appetite seems to be fine. He will be very happy to be pill free for a while! He was super easy to pill at first, but had gotten fed up with it the last week or two.
We're also backing off the fluids to 100mL once per day. My Terumo needles came in today, so I'm hoping they'll be a little smoother. He's also switching from .9% sodium chloride to LRS (he seemed like the sodium chloride had been stinging and since his electrolytes are all normal the vet okay'd it). Walgreens + MedVet mean he's got 3 months worth of supplies for what both vets charge for 1 bag!
He goes back in in a month now assuming everything continues to go well, and we'll start possibly reducing the fluids more and then reducing the check-up frequency too.
So, all-in-all I really am considering this the best possible outcome. He's not 100% healthy, but he's alive and happy and at a point where it's controllable for a while (quite a while hopefully). I can deal with that. Honestly, the harder thing I'm working through mentally is my thoughts about euthanasia and the 'what-ifs' there. I know his case is not normal, and he shouldn't have recovered, and you have to make a judgement call, but it terrifies me to think I could have ended it too early. I'm not quite sure how to articulate that, but it's left me with a lot to think about.
As the vet commented: "Everytime I see him, I think 'Wow, that's the cat I didn't think would make it, and he looks great.'". Same here.
Spike
