Keeping heads above the water

Not the best of weeks. Firstly, the cost of our chimney stack repointing is going up by a big sum due to crumbling brickwork. Still it has to be done and I think my brickwork would be crumbling if I were getting on for 180 yrs old. 
It's the second thing on the list that is more concerning. We took our little cat Lily to the vets thinking she had a mild infection in her mouth or, at worst, was in need of a dental (she only has about 6 teeth left poor dear). However it turns out she had an excess of fluid around her abdomen. The vet has drained it off and she is back home with us appearing quite comfortable considering her experience, but the real problem is finding the reason for it. Tests are being run and theories have been proposed, none of which have the best of prognoses. We can only wait and see. We've been through this before. To be honest we bring it on ourselves taking on mature rescue cats. Fingers crossed for her.