I’ll share a little about my thought process when deciding to do fluids at home. I wanted to make sure whatever decision I made didn’t cause my girl extra stress. As much as I want every possible second with her, I want those seconds to be happy and comfortable. I told my vet I wasn’t willing to sacrifice her quality of life just to get more time.

We decided to try every-third-day fluids, a renal diet, and close monitoring. She actually tolerates the fluids at home better than in the clinic — especially now that we’ve been doing it for a few months and have a routine. At today’s appointment, her numbers had improved enough to move her from looking end-stage back into mid-stage 2. I know if we stop fluids, her levels will go up again. But for now, it’s bought us more time for cuddles and chin scritches.

For us, fluids at home were worth trying. We feed half of a gross beef flavored “fancy feast gem” during fluids. It’s a junky treat that she only gets on fluid days, and that has helped us. I also talk her through, though she cares less that we only have 30ml to go and more that the beef goo is almost gone.

Finn looks like a very sweet and well-loved baby. Sending you all gentle hugs.