At just over 3 lbs and getting thinner each day, our 17 year old kitty has entered that phase of life when things begin to break down. For her, it seems that her kidneys are failing. Irreversible, ongoing treatment is the only option to slow it's progress. Ugh, it's tough to see her in this condition. "Hydration Therapy" must be applied each day: inject a catheter under her skin and let saline fluid drip in from a bag for 5 minutes. As you can imagine, this is a whopping adjustment to both humans and cats alike.

Update: As the days went on during her hydration therapy, we could see that she was not responding the way the vet had described. In her little bed she was looking more thin each day - and evermore lethargic. Her once piercing "meow" were now barely above her breath. Yet she still had those squinty eyes when entering the room - she was happy to see you. After another consultation with the vet, we now had two options. The first was to take her in for a week's stay, getting an IV with fluids and nutrients. The idea was to get her to the point where her appetite would come back, yet the vet could not guarantee that she would respond that way.

Photo: Topper in better days lounging in the front yard.