Tanya’s site is not a UK site. Its owner, Helen, is English but she lives in the USA. Tanya’s site is actually suitable for people all over the world, because she gives bloodwork details for both US and international measurements - no other site does this.

Excessive grooming may be caused by itching. Dander is also common in CRF. Tanya’s Index of Symptoms and Treatments provides good, proven treatments for these symptoms which work far better than a bath.

i found Tanya’s CRF site very helpful as well as my vets startlingly truthful assessment of cat food vis a vis their renal systems. i decided in the end it was completely unfair of me to have the treatments descend into torture of a cat whose time had come- she was 18 and the fact is once the kidneys functioning is cut by a certain percentage it does not come back and herbs and pills and sub qs arent helping but prolonging a life whose natural end has arrived. but this is a personal decision and depends on the animal and it’’s will and the physical realities of the amount of loss of functioning. i find my cats have told me when it was their’ time’ and i could never explain that feeling- you just know.i never thought i’d be able to jab any of my cats with a large bore needle and now i know i am capable of much more then i ever expected.

The Yahoo group mentioned was a very big help.

This is especially useful when kitty is very thin and finding the skin fold is difficult. Kitty won’t like it either with someone making multiple needle sticks trying to get it right.

Some owners do not like the shaved area appearance but the ease of injecting more than makes up for any appearance worries. It’s well worth it.

Helen of Tanya’s site also has a Yahoo Group:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/g.....-crf-info/

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/g.....F-Support/

as Candace pointed out, there are several treatment options out there and doing research is necessary to find the best regimen for your crf kitty. my little guy has responded well to probiotic treatment… that is, we give him a product called azodyl that sets up a bacterial flora in the intestinal tract that helps to filter toxins, lessening stress on the kidneys. we also encourage him to drink a lot of water to stay well hydrated. this combination has worked well for 14 months, but we know that the situation can change at any time and will ultimately require more aggressive therapies. we’re glad that we’ve been able to give him 14 months (so far) of relatively normal life without sub-q, extra medications and dietary supplements, etc.