It was fun reading all of this, especially since it goes back to '06. That first post of Lars with the cherry cream soda...yummmy. I only consume coffee if it's ice cream, Kahlua or some other dessert. I like tea, black, green, but not any spiced teas. Really dislike mint too. Mostly I drink flavored unsweetened seltzer, iced tea or lemonade. Occasionally I'll have a fruit soda, but I find them too sweet these days so I mix them with my seltzer. Alcohol? Not really. Don't like wine as a rule. I can deal with a little champagne or Asti. Will drink vodka, that Kahlua making it a Black Russian. Smiles. I can go several years or more without having any alcohol. Last year I turned my current [at the time] vodka into vanilla. This fall an old friend from high school came to visit and brought a bottle of vodka. I had 2 light Cape Cods and when he left I turned the Svedka into vanilla. LOL. In winter in the evening we either have hot tea or hot cocoa often. I do love hot chocolate made with cocoa or even a nice chocolate bar.

Snookums, interesting find. But the abstract just says the researchers found small amounts of formaldehyde in commercially brewed and instant coffees in aqueous forms. It doesn't explicitly say anything about decaf coffee, and it certainly doesn't prove that formaldehyde is used to decaffeinate coffee (or rather, we can't discern that from the abstract.) As this report is 27 years old, I wonder why there has been no follow up or more extensive research if there is a formaldehyde issue. Too bad we can't read what's in the report to know if the coffees sampled were a broad spectrum of brands or even if it's an American study (brands readily available to us in our markets). I'd like to know if the study team postulated how the formaldehyde got into the coffee. Perhaps it occurs naturally? I found this in article via library online databases: "Natural carcinogenic and DNA damaging chemicals present in a cup of certified organic coffee (4) Aectaldehyde, benzaldehyde, benzene, benzo (a) pyrene, benzofuran, caffeic acid, catechol, 1,2,5,6-dibenz (a) anthracene, ethylbenzene, formaldehyde, furan, furfural, hydroquinone, d-limonene, 4-methylcatechol, styrene, toluene." ( Gold LS, Slone TH, Stern BR, Manley NB, Ames BN. Rodent Carcinogens: Setting Priorities. Science 258, 261-265, 1992., cited in "Organic Food Sales Increasing 20% Annually Last 20 Years," Hale, Jamie. McClatchy - Tribune Business News [Washington] 05 Nov 2009.) In researching, I thought this was interesting: "Another argument raised against formaldehyde as a human leukemogen [cause of leukemia] has been the presence of potentially significant amounts of formaldehyde or formaldehyde precursors in food. However, food is a complex mixture of chemicals. For example, coffee contains caffeine that would be metabolized to formaldehyde, but among the close to a thousand other chemicals components identified in coffee, some are antioxidants that might well have anticarcinogenic activities. It is difficult to predict the toxicological effects of simple mixtures, let alone mixtures that have thousands of chemicals nor can the possibility be ruled out that formaldehyde derived from food intake plays a role in the existing background incidence of leukemia." (Hematological and toxicological evaluation of formaldehyde as a potential cause of human leukemia Goldstein, Bernard D. Human and Experimental Toxicology30.7 (Jul 2011): 725-35. )

Here's my favorite site for interpreting feline lab results. Click on the name of each lab value of interest, and it'll download a small pdf file that explains the primary implications of that particular lab value: lab value explanations If Ziggy dislikes the liquid al hyd that your vet provided, you can purchase it in a tasteless powder form that is easily mixed into food at the following link: aluminum hydroxide powder At the same website, you can purchase the needles that are most popular with CRF caretakers (Terumo Ultra Thin Wall 20 ga.). Terumo needles are considered by many (myself included) to be better manufactured and sharper than the Monoject needles that most vets use. The superior sharpness and smoothness of Terumo needles seems to be more comfortable for cats. The 20 ga. Ultra Thin Wall Terumos have a flow rate that is almost equivalent to the larger, more uncomfortable, 18 ga Monojects, as well. You can also purchase IV lines at the same site. In case you're not aware, you can purchase Ringer's very inexpensively by the case if you call around and price shop at your local pharmacies. You probably won't find any pharmacies that keep it in stock, but they should all be able to order it for you overnight. You'll just need a prescription from your vet. I can purchase a case of 14, 1000ml bags of Ringers for $23/case from my local Target Pharmacy. Lactulose and Miralax are both osmotic laxatives with similar action in the gut. Lactulose, however, may cause digestive upset in lactose-intolerant animals (which most cats are), whereas Miralax will not. Miralax, being a nearly tasteless crystalline powder, is MUCH easier to administer than Lactulose, as well. It is easily mixed into canned food and is undetectable to most cats. Like Lactulose, Miralax is a dose-to-effect drug, meaning that you can adjust the dose up or down to maintain optimal stool consistency. But like Lactulose, Miralax is only effective in a properly hydrated animal, which is one more important reason to be consistent with subQ fluids. From your description, I have to assume that Ziggy is responding to your husband's nervousness during fluid admins. If I were you, I would kindly dismiss your husband from fluid duty and handle it yourself. It's also extremely important to warm the fluids before admins, as room temp fluids can badly chill a cat and make him extremely uncomfortable. If you'd been using room temp fluids on Ziggy and just recently started warming them, he may still be anticipating the chill of unwarmed fluids. Just give him a little more time to trust that he'll be getting a warm internal shower instead of a cold one from now on. I have found that the less restraint I use, the more cooperative my cats are during fluid admins. I do admins on diningroom chairs by a large window. I use my body and the chair backs to block the cat's movement off of the chairs without actually having to hold the cat, while the window helps to distract the cat a bit during the admin. I'll post a pic of my setup if you'd like to see it. It's very common for CRF cats to have problems with excess stomach acid, so many of them do take an acid blocker. As I noted earlier, Pepcid AC is the most commonly used med for this purpose. I use Zantac 75, instead, because it has fewer potential drug interactions than Pepcid. But Zantac is a pain in the neck to cut into 1/8's. I don't know of anyone who uses Prilosec, which is why I'd be very interested to know why your vet chooses to use it. If he knows of any studies of Prilosec's use in CRF cats, I'd love to read them. We CRF caretakers are always on the lookout for potential improvements in our management protocols. Laurie

Very sorry for your loss, Paisley. I've put 9 to sleep. Of my four left, one is deaf and blind in one eye and it won't be long; one of the others has oral cancer that is being treated by cauterization and antibiotics (of all things); another has had benign tumors removed from his ears, and the oldest is in the best health of all! I hope you get over your grief soon. We'll all be thinking of you... Nelson