Hello Karen...I agree wholeheartedly with all you say and ofc you will want to give Oscar the steroid treatment long term, given the amazing results they have achieved....Well done your vet!...It is wonderful that Oscar has responded so well and so quickly to the steroid treatment prescribed as the best one for him having taken into account the renal failure and any other medical problems he has...You will be so happy to see that he has a new lease of life now that he is painfree...What an amazing cat he is...At 23 he is indeed a venerable old gentleman...