Ian Hudgings
President & Founder
Vet Pet Solutions
(303) 320-6034

Respectfully,
Ben Leavens, DVM
Main Street Pet Care, Inc.
1910 South Main Street
Joplin, MO 64804
www.mainstreetpetcare.com
417-782-7387

Here at Coastal Cat Clinic we see more than our share of CRF kitties. This is a great resource for our clients and their cats!

Darian Strickland
www.lindamarvet.com

I am a vet assistant in a small animal practice and I first found your site when my girl was diagnosed with CRF. The vets at our clinic and this website helped us greatly in our battle against CRF over the last two years. Unfortunately, on September 28th I had to put my girl down which was absolutely devastating. She had 19 wonderful years before CRF eventually got the best of us. I wanted to thank you for providing an excellent source of information and support for those who are battling CRF.

Katie S.

I'm a vet in CT with 2 renal failure cats of my own. Your website is incredible. I've been referring my clients to it for years now! 2 things that I can add:

Consider adding urine culture and sensitivity to your list of diagnostic tests. I do it as part of the initial work up and every 6-12 months in cats routinely. It's surprising how many cats have kidney infections which just causes further degeneration of the kidneys. This is one of the few treatable causes of kidney degeneration. I also do it when I see that a cat has sudden increase in BUN/CREAT. Often these cats will have an infection (this happened with my own cat) which once treated the values come back down.

I have become a big fan of the fountains for cats. A few clients have recommended them to me saying that their cats drink a lot more water. I did a little experiment in my own home. I measured the water consumption from the bowl and then from the fountain and they drank 2.5 times as much water from the fountain! Now I recommend it to all my feline CRF patients. I think encouraging water consumption is a very important part of treating this disease. Also I encourage owners to keep the toilet seats up so cats can drink out of them if they like (I also make sure they don't use any toxic cleaners or those tidy bowl things in the tank) because a lot of cats prefer the cold water in the toilet bowl to their water bowl. Also adding water to the food if the cat tolerates it.
I can't thank you enough for this site. It's a great help to my CRF patients owners!

Dr Michele Lamothe
Norwalk, CT

Thank you very much for contacting me and your interest in my research. We have concluded the Morris Animal Foundation Grant and I imagine that is why it has been removed from their website. Our ongoing work involves investigating whether the drug fenoldopam increases urine output, and if so why, in cats. The ultimate goal is to find a drug that will increase urine output in cats suffering from acute oliguric(low urinary output) renal failure. In dogs and people the drug dopamine has been a conventional therapy for increasing urine output in acute renal failure. However, work in my laboratory as well as others indicate that dopamine is not effective in cats. My collaborator, Dr. Dean Schwartz, and I are exploring the characteristics of dopamine receptors in the cat kidney and our work suggests that the drug fenoldopam is more likely than dopamine to be effective in cats. Our studies thus far have only examined the effects in healthy cats. In healthy cats the results have been very encouraging and we have submitted our work for publication in the veterinary scientific literature. We will also be presenting our findings at two scientific conferences in 2005. We are hopeful we will find continued funding that will ultimately allow us to explore the characteristics of dopamine receptors and the effects of fenoldopam in cats with kidney disease. I would also like to mention other scientists who have played an important role in this work: Dr. Shannon Flournoy a veterinarian with US Army, Dr. Missy Jopsephson, Dr. Jeff Simmons and Heather Gray-Edwards all with the College of Veterinary Medicine. Thank you again for your interest and the service you are providing for cat owners. Best regards,

James S. Wohl,
DVM Diplomate ACVIM, ACVECC
Associate Professor Auburn University
Critical Care Program

Hello. Just wanted to say "Well Done"! I am a US military veterinarian stationed overseas and am one of those vets who likes to give pet owners every possible information source to look things up on their own. We have several excellent vets and I am residency trained in Surgery but we don't have specific Internal Medicine referral options for our servicemembers pets' short of sending them back to the US. I am always "scanning" for legitimate, quality websites with information I trust from reputable sources to be able to add to our "Internet Pet Info Websites" list. Your Feline CRF site just made in onto our list! Great job, hope you are able to keep it up for a long time...

Suzanne Alexander, DVM
Dr. SDA, US Army Vet Corps

Regular check for news about medications on this site. In Belgium,EPO is forbidden (Xcept for cyclists?:-)), Oral Potassium glu. no more available aso,...But some owners would put the world upside-down to get THE proper medication for their sick animals and it is great to give them the info. Thanks.

Van Berchem Christine DVM
Brussels, Belgium

Hi, We are MercyVet, a small, holistic small animal practice on Mercer Island in WA state. Finding your webpage on how to give SQ fluids very impressive, may we post it on our website, or at least provide our readers with a link to your page? Thanks so much for your help.

Jacqueline S. Obando DVM
MercyVet, Pllc

THANK YOU for such a comprehensive and understanding site. I am a tech in a small animal hospital and my Henry was just diagnosed. He is 3. I was fortunate enough to be able to have him at home during his 5 days of IV treatment, and your website was there when I was up at 3 am and had so many questions. I agree that trust and respect of the vets you are working with is paramount, but to have a site like this to go to when you are at home alone and thinking about all you should have asked is comforting beyond words. All of the experience of the job fly right out the window when it is happening to your pet. This site helps beyond measure by taking you step by step through the process and what to expect. Truly an exceptional site.

Julie

I think that this is a wonderful site with a lot of useful information to those with cats that have CRF. I am a Veterinary Technician and know the heartache of this disease. My sympathy goes out to those who hurt from losing a loved one. Jenna

www.MagicalFelines.net

Re: Winstrol-VThanks for including the warning about hepatic problems with this product!

Bill Folger DVM, MS, ABVP(Feline)
Memorial Cat Hospital
Houston, TX

I'm a veterinary nutritionist in Guelph, Canada and just wanted to let you know that I think your website is amazing! What a great service to cat owners and what a great tribute to your cat who suffered from this disease.

Hilary Watson

I am a Licensed Veterinary Technician with two cats with CRF. These are not my first nor will they be my last. I see CRF every day at work, and I have passed on this web site to many people. I am here to help. I help people with their CRF kitties by giving SQ fluids at home to the cats that are too stressed to go into the clinic. I also have a pet sitting business, and take care of these special kitties at home when owners are away. One thing you may want to mention in the link about constipation, is to add fiber to the food daily. Many of these cats do not take in enough water to sustain their normal bowel function. Adding fiber to the diet can be a great help. If they are really constipated a small amount of milk can be given as well. Unfortunately I learned these things too late. I lost 'Bunny' after a two year battle with CRF. Bunny had become very constipated. In her efforts to defecate, she ruptured her bowel. I was unaware this had happened due to her normal behavior. She developed an abscess on her side that broke open. When the veterinarian and I examined her we could see feces under her skin. By this time she had become toxic and sadly it was the cause of her demise. For two years Bunny received 50mL SQ fluid w/B-complex daily along with 1/4 Pepcid and 5mg cyproheptidine 20 minutes before breakfast and dinner. Although she was receiving fluids daily, this was not enough. I have a book that will be on the market in the next few weeks, "In The Company of CATS." Bunny's story is in it. If you have any questions about CRF (you have done a great job with the web site!) please contact me. I would love to help.

Sincerely,
Carla A. Schaaf, LVT

Just wanted to update you that I am now running the renal transplant program at the University of Florida with Dr. Ellison and that we have a new link for transplant info: http://sacs.vetmed.ufl.edu/Sas/SurgeryWebpage/Renal.htm

Please contact me if I can be of assistance.
C. Adin

Christopher A. Adin, DVM
Diplomate ACVS
Assistant Professor
Dept. SACS
VMTH University of Florida
bertrands@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu

I'm a veterinary nurse in England. I specialize in all areas of geriatric problems and read with interest today all the feedback from your subscribers who regularly use S/Q injections in cats with renal problems...with great interest. We don't advise it at all. I've worked in three different practices in my four years as a nurse and have never advised it. But looking at the feedback from your subscribers it may be worth advising it in the future, especially in cats with renal failure rather than insufficiency. The feedback you've been getting has been remarkable!!!

Keep up the good work too. Your website will definitely be recommended by me. It is very important for people to know they're not alone and know that there is support out there.

Best wishes,
Lucy Abbott

I work as a vet tech for an internal medicine specialist at a referral hospital AND am the mom to two CRF patients, a dog AND cat. Much of what is on your website is too well known by me! It is a wonderful site, and I have already printed out the Info Center page to start offering to our clients. The doctor I tech for is an acknowledged expert in feline endocrinology and urology, so we see A LOT of CRF cats, as well as dogs. Personally, my dog has a GIF-tube implant. She has had it for 6 weeks now. What a Godsend that thing is! She gets 350mls SQ BID, and this tube has taken an unbelievable amount of stress off of both of us. It pumps in 100mls in 60 seconds, totally pain-free for her. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for a great site. Even we on the front lines of treating CRF are not immune to it with our own pets, and it's nice to know we're not alone either.

Tammy Jensen

I was wondering whether you could add some contact information to our clinic details on your website.

www.catvets.com.au
email: crcc@creekrdcatclinic.com.au

We have information regarding our transplant program on our website. Again, Thank you for the listing.

Regards,
Vic Menrath
Creek Road Cat Clinic
Brisbane, Australia

I am requesting permission to link your web site to ours. We are a full service veterinary practice for cats only in the Seattle area. The purpose of our web site is to inform cat owners of our services and to provide useful information about the health and maintenance of cats. Your web site would be listed in our "Library."

You have a great web site! You are doing a great service to cats and cat owners.

Thank you,
Kirk Haupt, DVM, Diplomate, ACVIM, Owner
www.catdoctorseattle.com

Wow! I am extremely impressed by your web site. It is very well done and comprehensive. We found you through veterinarypartners,com. I am Katherine Lawrence, DVM at Brighton Animal Hospital in Michigan. We have a number of clients who will be very interested in this site, plus our staff will be well educated if they read through.

Many thanks. Your work is appreciated and admired.

Katherine
drdog@ismi.net

Hello,

You have a great website! It's a wonderful resouce for veterinarians to refer clients who have a cat with CRF. The "Emotional roller coaster" page says just about everything I've ever said to a client with a terminally ill cat, in a very gentle and loving way.

Thanks for all your good work on behalf of the kitties!

Sincerely,
Jean Hofve, DVM
Englewood, Colorado

http://www.humananimalbondtrust.org/

Thank you for your site. I am an Australian veterinarian looking for some updated info on CRF for my beloved Burmese who I have had since I was 10 years old. I burst into tears the minute I saw your site and I have been crying ever since. This is a compliment!

Dr Sandy Read BVSc

Congratulations on a very interesting and informative website. Thank you, and keep up the good work.

Annette Litster B.V.Sc. F.A.C.V.Sc.

Thank you so very much for your site and all this information that it contains.

Thanks to your site I located a renal transplant team at the Univ of PA and last month my 4 year old Siamese had a transplant. We now own a wonderful donor cat and my Missy is now fat as always.

You will never know how much you helped me and my cat. We veterinarian/cat owners are soft hearted too!!

Joseph A. Manda DVM,MBA

Your website provides such valuable information for people with cats with crf. Thanks to your beloved Avatar Tycho Magickcatte, hundreds, even thousands, of crf cats will have longer, happier lives.

Kathleen Carson, D.V.M.
http://www.holisticvetconsult.com

Wonderful website. I will be referring my CRF patients here.

CRF is such a complicated condition and your website will help to educate my clients on what they can expect and what they can do for their pet. There is so much information to be learned and it is virtually impossible for every client to absorb it at the veterinarian's office. Your website is a Godsend for both the veterinarian and the pet owner.

Valarie A. Barker DVM

I would like to congratulate you on the excellence of your site. I am a veterinarian working in Canberra (Australia) and was made aware of your site by a very astute client who, like yourself, wanted to do more for her cat with kidney failure.

I am very impressed with the presentation of your material as it is excellent information and very user friendly. . . . I have already requested that your Website appear on our Internet links page and if you would like to see what our hospital is like you can view us on www.wcvh.com.au

Thank you very much for your time.

Doris Beck BVSc MACVSc

I just wanted to add my congratulations and thanks on providing such a complete and well-designed website. I plan to add the link to my hospital's website for my clients. We have many patients with CRF, and we treat them very aggressively. This will help our clients to understand the process so much better!

I wish I could have met Avatar. ;-)

Dr. John Daugherty
Poland Veterinary Centre
Poland, Ohio

I saw your listing in the Cat Fancy issue- congratulations! You provide a fantastic, valuable service and have helped many people. Thank you so much.

Jane Brunt

I am a technician who took care of Smokey and Buffalo in 1996 during the transplant surgery. Just wanted to say "hi" and tell you how nice the web site and info about CRF are. Keep us updated! Thanks for the nice things about our hospital and Dr. Lirtzman.

Shelia
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Veterinary Technician Specialist
Emergency and Critical Care
at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center

I was very excited to find your website. You provide a wealth of helpful information on feline kidney disease. I will definitely add a link to your site on my cat hospital website. Thank you for your commitment to education on this frustrating disease. You might want to consider more info on recent treatment issues such as potassium supplement as a PREVENTATIVE for chronic renal disease and avoiding urinary acidifing diets (which are hard to avoid these days) for this disease. Thanks again.

Jennifer Kissinger, DVM

As a vet student presenting crf cases to resident DVMs, clinicians, and students in our teaching hospital, I find your information to be extremely useful. I admire the spirit of the endeavor as well. Thanks!

Brad

I am a veterinarian who has given your web page address to many of my clients for supportive information regarding chronic renal failure. I would like to include a link from my new clinic web page to yours. This is a wonderful site for all cat lovers, but is especially helpful to those with a beloved kitty family member with Kidney disease.

Anne Sassen, DVM
Cats Preferred Veterinary Hospital
Plymouth, MN
www.catspreferred.com

I wanted to commend you on the wonderful website that you have created. I did not get a chance to go through the entire site but it appears to be a great source of information for owners of cats suffering from CRF. My fiancé's aunt has a cat right now that is in CRF and she is looking at the option of a kidney transplant. I told her everything that I knew and decided to do a little research of my own. This site will really help her to understand what is going on and that there are people out there either going through or have gone through the exact same thing.

Thank you,
Matthew R McGee, DVM

We're compiling a list of accurate web sites at our clinic for our clients. So many people come in with "Well, I went to a site on the web and it said "...." Rarely are these sites as full of information and advice as is listening to your veterinarian. You've done a wonderful job with your site and it appears to be very helpful and quite accurate. One of our vets sent it to me for our list. Wish there were more like yours!

Melissa, Receptionist Supervisor
VCA-Worth Animal Hospital

I am a veterinarian in New Zealand and am very grateful to be able to refer my clients to your great website to get both excellent information and support.

Karen Plimmer

My name is Amy and I'm a Certified Vet. Tech. I just wanted to tell you guys that I think your website is great. It is really easy to get incorrect information on the internet, but you guys do a great job of explaining everything and trying to answer as many questions as possible. Keep up the good work!!

Amy Drufke

Thank you for taking the time to put together a wonderful and informative website for owners of cats with CRF. I will remember to tell my kitty clients about it!

Kari Clawson, DVM
Salem, OR

Hi there. My name is Lauren Chattigre. I'm a holistic veterinarian working in Gresham, Oregon. I just found your website...and I love it! I haven't been through all the pages yet, but what I've read so far is astoundingly complete and thoughtful. Thank you for providing such a wonderful support for people and their kitties.

I'd also like to let you know that we've had some good success with alternative medicine in CRF kitties, using modalities like homeopathy, Chinese medicine (herbs and acupuncture), Western herbs, glandulars, and other modalities - sometimes alone and other times in conjunction with conventional medicine. Each cat's needs are individually assessed and closely monitored, especially when they have hyperthyroidism on top of CRF.

I look forward to reading the rest of your site, and I'll be sure to forward the web address to all my friends.

If you'd like more information about our clinic, please let me know.

Lauren Chattigre, DVM

Thank you for this excellent web site. It is clear that Avatar was a magnificent individual and you have appropriately honored him. As the owner of 6 cats and as a practicing veterinarian, I thank you again for this source and I wish I had something like this 10 years ago when I first started practicing veterinary medicine.

Robert J. Goldman, DVM
Santa Monica, CA

This is an excellent site. I'm very much impressed by the volume and accuracy of the information. I was referred to this site by a client whose cat has been recently diagnosed with CRF, and I will certainly be referring future clients to this site. It's often helpful for people to hear this information from someone who's "been there". It makes it less scary and less unrealistic (i.e. giving SQ fluids and meds).

Thanks for sharing your experiences with other cat owners. I'm sure you've helped many more cats (and their people) than you can imagine with this site.

Dr. Karen Cullen
Toronto, Ontario

I just want you to know I think your website is terrific. I have printed out some of your material for my clients. It can be hard to explain CRF to clients, and I often feel I just can't spend enough time with them.. Also, it takes time to understand the information we try to impart. I hope we can send people to your site for support and education which will aid them in caring for their kitties and preparing to (darn it!) lose those kitties someday.

Thanks,
Kim A. Taylor, DVM

I just wanted to thank you for putting together this web site. I am a feline practitioner in Arlington, VA. I have directed many clients to your site as a valuable source of information and support. You have done a GREAT job and are providing a valuable service to help people understanding a difficult condition.

I realize that you must get lots of emails and I just wanted you to realize how much everyone appreciates your efforts.

Sincerely,
Marcus G. Brown, DVM

We have learned from Feline Specialist Dr. Margie Scherk of Cats Only Clinic in Vancouver, B.C., Canada to call the disease Chronic Renal Insufficiency, often a more accurate description of the process. We think your website is awesome and refer owners of all our newly diagnosed CRI patients to it.

Sally Holmes
Reception & Administration
Pacific Cat Clinic
Victoria, BC, Canada

Just wanted to offer a tidbit....a correction if you will.. regarding the use of calcitriol in the management of CRF in cats. The rationale is to actually decrease the blood levels of parathyroid hormone (which when present in high levels for long periods has a myriad of detrimental effects on kidney and on non-kidney organ function. More information is available in The Clinics of North America, November 1996 publication). Generally, CRF cats are not calcium deficient and do NOT need additional calcium in their diets. Indeed, there is a careful balancing in the management of serum calcium and phosphorus, which are monitored closely during treatment with calcitriol. I bring this up because I don't want owners to automatically assume that their renal failure cats need calcium supplementation...and then have them do something (potentially) harmful to their beloved pet.

Thanks for the very nice web site.

Best,
Chick Newman, Ph.D, D.V.M.

Thank you for your site. A client of mine told me that there was a CRF site so I have been looking your site over for its content. All I can say is that I will inform my owners of CRF kitties of this site. Especially useful is the SQ fluids site. Many clients don't think they can do it, but they can. Their feline friends usually make excellent progress. They start eating, grooming, using the litterbox and playing again.

Thanks again,
Richard Park Smith, MA, DVM
Pedro Point Veterinary Clinic
Pacifica, CA 94044

I just wanted to compliment you on a well done, informative site for cat owners. Our receptionist has a cat with CRF and introduced me to your site. It sounds as though you both went above and beyond for your beloved friend. One suggestion, in reviewing the majority of your site, nowhere is PREVENTION of CRF discussed. Dental disease has been strongly linked with pyelonephritis resulting in CRF in older cats. In our practice, few weeks go by when we don't have a renal failure patient where multiple recommendations for dental care have been declined. I would encourage you to research this and add it to your site.

Diane Scott, DVM

Congratulations on one of the best pet sites I have seen on the www. I located your site while looking for new sites to add to my links section on my own webpage. I critically evaluate sites before adding them as I believe the selection reflects on me and my Veterinary Hospital. When I explored your site it was clear this was a site I must add. The information is quite accurate and informative. I will be sending clients whose pets currently have CRF and I will also post it in my IRC channel #pets on the undernet as a site to visit. Thank you for all the time and effort it clearly took to put this site together. If you ever find it necessary to dismantle the site, please let me know as I would like to mirror it on my site with appropriate recognition of those who created it.

Robert L.Linville, DVM
http://www.community.net/~petdoc

I am an Australian vet working in Hong Kong. Have just browsed your site before recommending it to a client. Wanted to say to you that it is excellent and hope you appreciate the contribution you are making to many owners.

I will be recommending it without hesitation and will be suggesting other vets do the same.

Regards,
Brad Easton

I came across your CRF site whilst researching some data for one of my patients. Your web site and obvious devotion to "Avatar" was moving and reminded me of the reasons I chose to become a Veterinarian. Thank-you for refreshing me after a difficult day at the surgery.

Brenton Chambers BVSc

I just wanted to say that this website has been a wonderful educational tool. I am a veterinarian practicing in a suburb outside of Philadelphia, PA and have on many occasions referred owners of newly diagnosed cats to your web site or have downloaded the information for them.

The feedback I get from these owners is a resounding "thank you" especially for the in-depth coverage of how the owner's emotional reactions to watching their pet deal with the slowly progressive nature of this disease.

Again, congratulations and thank you for a thorough, compassionate review of this disease.

Karen M. Allum, DVM

I am a veterinarian who just discovered your feline renal failure site and I think it's great. I haven't been through the whole site yet, but what I've seen looks great.

I have developed a site full of information for cat and dog owners that might interest you. It is made up of articles I wrote for the San Antonio Express News daily newspaper over a period of about 7 years. All are about the health of dogs and cats, with a lot of behavior oriented articles. The address is: http://members.aol.com/pwmdvm/petalk/

Phil Martin

This is a great site. Very good research and easy to understand. I am going to link to it from my Kitty health pages.

Monte W Gulzow DVM
http://members.aol.com/dnvrcatdoc

Hello and thanks for the great work on your web page! Just a short note to let you know that we now have an informational phone line for owners or veterinarians that might be interested in the topic of renal transplantation, and who would consider having the procedure performed at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The number is: (919)-821-9588.

Thanks again!

Kyle Mathews, DVM, MS, DACVS

I just ran across your website. What a wonderful job you have done. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a Pharmacist with Island Pharmacy Services. We are a compounding pharmacy that deals almost exclusively with veterinarians and their medication needs. Among the hundreds of medications that we compound for veterinarians is calcitriol. We have just opened our website (it's still under construction). Our address is:

http://www.islandpharmacy.com

Dave Rice

Your hard work has paid dividends already in our practice as we were able to share your experience and information. I, as a practitioner, highly commend you both for the thorough, up-to-date information which is provided on your internet site. I was unable to find any questionable statements in your information, and as a sometimes researcher, have found this approach to information invaluable to all.

Thanks again for your fine work and labor of love!

Sincerely Yours,
Brian

We try to limit the number of links we make to other sites. We do this because we want each link we make to offer the person seeking information the best possible source of that information. It was no accident that we chose to link to your site, The Feline CRF Information Center. The information you offer has the depth and quality that we are seeking to find in other websites. It is a very good source of information and you should be proud of it. We are very glad that it is available!

Mike Richards, DVM
TierVet - http://www.vetinfo.com/

I am a veterinarian with a much beloved fifteen year old cat, Squidge, with chronic renal failure. I just ran across your website and I am very impressed with it. You cover all areas extremely well, including the important topic of the emotion involved in having a cat with CRF. I would like to add just a few comments:

Of the different commercial prescription diets available, through trials with many patients I have found that Hills k/d is by far the least palatable (although they have recently changed the recipe to make it more attractive) although it is the most readily available diet. MediCal Reduced Protein is acceptable to most cats, and Waltham Low Protein seems to be tastiest. All cats have individual preferences of course, and my own cat likes MediCal best although she will eat Waltham's. She hates k/d. Since MediCal is a Canadian product, it may be difficult to obtain in the U.S.

I have been reading some interesting research papers about the value of potassium supplementation in cats with CRF. Because of the way the kidney works, cats in renal failure are unable to prevent excessive potassium loss. This contributes to the vicious downward cycle of renal degeneration. While most veterinarians understand that cats with laboratory values of low blood potassium require supplementation, what is less well known is that cats will continue to pull potassium out of their tissues to maintain blood levels, so that by the time blood levels start to drop, the cat may, in fact, be in serious total body potassium deficiency. In many instances in these studies, if started early enough potassium supplementation halted or even partially reversed renal degeneration. Such cats then required life-long potassium supplementation at the rate of 2 to 6 milliequivalents per day. Deficient cats required up to 10 milliequivalents per day. Obviously, cats receiving supplements should have their blood levels checked regularly to be certain that they are not receiving too much, but the addition of 2 to 4 milliequivalents per day is unlikely to cause any harm. The researchers felt so strongly about this that they recommended that even CRF patients with normal potassium levels should receive supplements. The product of choice is Tumil-K. Human products should be avoided since they often contain phosphorus, which contributes to the burden on the cat.

Thanks again for your excellent web-site. I will recommend it to my clients.

Janice Selinger
Fenelon Animal Clinic
Fenelon Falls, Ontario, Canada

I am one of the America On-line veterinary consultants to the "Pet Care Forum" and I send people to your web site all the time. I have recently put up a web site in part to promote my new animal hospital but also to present a library of information on an assortment of dog and cat medical conditions. Rather than creating a CRF site of my own, I plan to simply link to yours. I hope that the additional exposure to your site will help many more kitties in need.

Good luck always,
Wendy C. Brooks D.V.M., D.A.B.V.P.
Owner, Mar Vista Animal Medical Center
AltheaVet@aol.com
http://www.ccweb.com/marvistavet

I would like to applaud your efforts and the completeness of your web site on feline chronic renal failure. I believe it is very professional, informative, and certainly useful to both lay people and general practice veterinarians. Unfortunately many general practice veterinarians are not aware of all of the options available to them; it is so important to seek a second opinion or the advice of a specialist.

My wife and I are both Board Certified Veterinary Surgeons (i.e., Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons) and we can appreciate the effort you have made to become educated on this subject. I performed renal transplants in dogs during my surgical residency at The Ohio State University.

We also have a wonderful cat, Anthony, who has chronic renal failure. Unfortunately he is not a good candidate for transplantation. We have seen our share of medical problems in our own animals and can certainly relate to what our clients are going through. Your section on The Care Givers is excellent. I work in a referral only practice so the cases I see are usually difficult; I have to give a similar talk to many of my clients. It is so important to thoroughly understand the problem so informed decisions (albeit difficult decisions) can be made.

Keep up the good work.

Stephen A. Bilbrey DVM, MS Diplomate,
American College of Veterinary Surgeons

Thanks very much for letting me know about the Feline CRF Website. It is very well done and provides accurate, practical information for pet owners. I will refer cat owners to your site if they have any questions about renal failure.

James A. Flanders, DVM
Associate Professor
College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University

I work as a vet assistant and find the CRF patients and their owners to be among the most emotionally draining and inspiring visitors to our hospital. I do this kind of care for a living, so I can just barely imagine what it is like to carry out all the complex procedures on a nevertheless-failing and beloved pet, day in and day out, while still trying to keep up the frenetic lives so many of us are forced to live nowadays. Dad's had a heart attack, but how can I go without a catsitter who will give subQs? Candy's sleep-over party has been scheduled for weeks, but how will Fluffy react to having all the commotion going on while I force more medication into her? My husband insists I spend more time coaxing the cat to eat and force-feeding it when necessary than I do on his dinner . . . .

I am delighted to see this site and the associated newsgroup, where CRF patients' "moms" and "dads" can get some straight talk and some emotional support, too. Keep it up, and God bless you and your work.

Vicky Newell
vnewell123@aol.com

Excellent page. I am particularly interested because I am a feline practitioner. The style is so accessible and in every day language that we in the "business" have difficulty with. I enjoy the thoroughness as well as the "helpful hints" from someone who has been there.

Dr. Sharon Schamberger

I recently read the information you prepared for the Feline CRF Info Center. As a veterinary student at the University of Florida, I just wanted to let you know that feline renal transplants are being performed here now as well. Thought you might want to add it to your list.

I just wanted to commend you on a spectacular job with your CRF website. It is well written... very informative... and a good source for future owners of CRF patients to visit. I have added your website to my favorite places listing and will recommend owners with computers & CRF cats to visit your site.

Dr. Sherri Williams, D.V.M.

I just found out about this homepage today. It is an excellent resource page. I, Grace, am a licensed veterinary technician. My cat Moose is 7 years old. I have been treating him for the past two years.

He is stable at the moment and I cherish each day with him. I really enjoyed your page and just wanted to let you know.:)

bob and grace parker
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/luvadot

Very nice Web page. It provides a valuable compilation of information for owners of cats with CRF. I just wanted to provide our full address (missing in your transplant section) for those browsers that want more information regarding kidney transplantation at the University of Wisconsin.
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of Wisconsin
2015 Linden Dr. W.
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-7600

Keep up the good work.

J.F. McAnulty DVM, MS, PhD
Assistant Professor of Surgery

I am wholly impressed by your work and dedication. You, along with Sandy Carr, make a strong team and should be thanked for assembling this much needed information in an easy to understand and readily accessible format. I am pleased to have helped in text review of the transplant section and you have my support, approval and thanks.

Ross Lirtzman, DVM

I have just printed out several pages of your CRF website and read all of it. I am speechless. It is wonderful, very clear and informative. I must tell you that I would not change a thing. It is very complete and I am sure that lots of people out there will obtain good information from it. You have truly done so much for so many cats with CRF and the people who love and care for them. Many cats with early CRF will be examined and diagnosed sooner with the information you have provided to so many people. You have made such a big difference for so many cats.

Arlene McKinstry, DVM