Back and Forth

Seems like I'm talking a lot about Bit and not a lot about Leo.  Well, that's because Leo is doing great!  He went to the vet last week and everything was great, he took the chemo fine, he's doing great, his bloodwork is great, he's happy and shedding like a champ.
Bit, on the other hand, is a whole story.

He was doing much better in the last episode. However, while I was gone, he just stopped... well, thriving.  According to L, he seemed tired, annoyed, out of sorts and unhappy.  He had gastro-intestinal issues, which he hadn't been having.  And then he stopped eating.
All of this in the 4 days while I was gone.
When I got back, he was indeed not thriving.  He looked thinner, lethargic, and didn't have the spark in his eyes that I'd seen come back in the last month.  I was very, very worried that he'd given up, that we'd not been aggressive enough, and that the cancer had won (or at least, was in the final stages of winning).  I gave him the food he liked, and he picked at it. I gave him attention, but he seemed disinterested.
So finally, I gave him extra prednisolone.  He'd been down to once a day.  I moved him back up to twice a day and skipped a chemo treatment.  Within 36 hours, he'd bounced back.  He was back to himself, eating, hungry, and being a little monster.  Even with the Lukeran, he was back to himself (although after the Lukeran he was a little less himself).  And so, I reduced the prednisolone and kept an eye on him. And he's stabilized - not as great as before I left, but not nearly as bad as when I came back.  He's doing well enough to stalk me, well enough to wake me up in the mornings (his mornings - 6:30), well enough to bite and scratch for no reason.  And he has the spark again.  He hasn't given up.
So, whatever it was that was bothering him (me being gone, his guts, the tumors, whatever) is resolved, and he's much much happier.  I hope to see some improvement still, and I've given him a weekend away from the pups (which is painful to me - having to decide between Bit's health and spending time with Leo and Luna!) but I think that's the best option now.

However, I do worry about leaving for 2-3 weeks at the end of the year for Bali.  That might be problematic.  Then again, I am making some assumptions.  If all goes well, I will have that to worry about then. But for now, I've spent some quality time with him on the couch, and he seems pretty happy.