>> I think enough has been posted already about the FDA's warning on kava (they have not established its safety or recommended it for any potential users) ... As a rule, the FDA does not recommend herbs - the fact that they do not specifically recommend kava means nothing. The FDA can ban an herb if there is clear evidence that it is unsafe. Since the 2002 advisory, the FDA has monitored the situation, but has not seen real evidence that this herb is clearly dangerous. By implying that no one should use an herb unless recommended by the FDA, aren't you really saying that herbalism should be avoided altogether? >> I'm surprised, then, that you aren't attacking the "biases" of the authors of the American Academy of Family Physicians article that you triumphantly cited on kava. After all, the authors of that article pooh-poohed a host of other herbal remedies and supplements that you recommended earlier in this thread, such as chamomile, hops, valerian, skullcap and passionflower. They do have their biases - they take a conservative approach and tend not to endorse something unless there is overwhelming proof (in the form of double-blind placebo controlled trials). That's fine for them, and in the case of kava, the evidence took them past their threshold and they do suggest doctors recommend it. The fact that there is not an adequate number of such studies for every other herb does not mean that none of these are effective - it merely means that it remains unknown according to their framework. I personally believe that there are other ways of knowing - the clinical experience of doctors or herbalists can lead to useful knowledge. And while many people dismiss personal experience as 'unscientific' I do not always do so. Many researchers believe that anxiety is a condition where people can monitor themselves and adjust their regimen, and I agree with this. Studies can tell us that a particular approach is better than placebo, but they generally cannot predict individual response. I have taken a variety of prescription and non-prescription therapies for anxiety, and can say that kava can have dramatic, rapid beneficial effects. I also seen benefits from passiflora. Chamomile has not resulted in any noticeable changes for me - maybe some people benefit, but I do not consider it to be that effective. Hops are used more for insomnia than for anxiety - so an article on herbal approaches to anxiety might not recommend hops, even if it was written by a herbalist. Ashwagandha I have find helpful, though there is almost no research on it with regards to anxiety; many people with anxiety have tried it and found benefit, but the FDA hasn't gotten around to looking into it (and they probably won't, so looking to the FDA probably won't answer that question). >> In searching for publications on kava you may have overlooked another new report. This one (in the Journal of Psychopharmacology) looked at 21 different double-blind clinical trials of anxiety treatments, incorporating two complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) therapies (including kava) and found that: "Subjects taking CAM had worse outcomes than placebo". No, I am aware of that study. It reviewed 21 different studies on 7 different types of medications (8 different types if kava and homeopathy are not lumped together - unlike other categories, they are not chemically related, and do not share a common mechanism). It is not clear how many studies were actually on kava (my guess is one or two). And lumping kava in with homeopathy doesn't tell us much about kava - I don't consider homeopathy to be effective, so I am not surprised that it would bring down the score of what they define as CAM. The idea that outcomes for kava are worse than placebo is at variance with a much larger number of other studies, and is not supported by the facts. To cherry-pick one review that has a dubious design and considers only a fraction of the research on kava is shoddy science. >> I was encouraged recently to see that you'd apparently forsaken personal attacks in this forum. I regret that you're resuming this tactic, I think your being too sensitive. Noting or criticizing apparent bias is not necessarily an unfair ad hominem attack. You have repeatedly mischaracterized my arguments as an appeal to folklore, you have insinuated that financial interests are behind the kava research that doesn't find it to be massively toxic, and you have invoked irrational fear over rare idiosyncratic reactions in kava while ignoring such risk from other commonly consumed medicines. You refuse to acknowledge well known limits to predicting liver toxicity using cell culture models, and dismissively suggest that I don't know how such research is done. For me to point out that you do in fact have biases and values that can color your interpretations of the research is not an unfair personal attack on you. You have consistently done the same to me.

I was looking over my statement, "I have no interest in someone being able to pinpoint the exact spot where I took the photo.", and realized that it might have sounded rude to the posters here at the GP. It was nothing personal or aimed at anyone. I realize that the photos posted here at GW, can be used by google in their image search engine, therefore they can be seen by millions of people.

Hi Tracey! I've been wondering how you and Casey are doing. I don't have great advice on this subject (I don't think), but that's a tough one! I don't think disposable diapers would work though, my DD is in a size 5 (pretty big in the diaper world) and it's not that big and tends to curl up. A better choice might be chux pads- I think that's what they are called. They are those disposable, absorbant pads they put under your rear when you go to the GYN. I think you can probably buy them at a medical supply store or maybe online. Are you around during the day? I.e. could you clean up after her real quick before the house is to be shown? When my old guy was in bad shape, he could not climb into the deep litter box, so we gave him a shallow one that he ended up peeing over the edge. I just stuck old bath towels around the pan, and kept the washer full of soapy water. A few times a day I'd pick up the old towel, toss them in the washing machine, wipe down the floor with a cleaner, and put new towels down. Then I'd run the laundry load about once a day. It wasn't that much work, and spared the dignity of all involved. A thought on your kitty's overactive bladder though... my mom was telling me recently that when people use the bathroom often (by choice), they end up not building bladder tone and capacity and can essentially end up with a bladder that NEEDS to be emptied frequently. I wonder if Casey got into the habit of peeing so often, from problems, that her bladder eventually lost the muscle tone and capacity that most cats have? Just a theory, nothing else. My CRF cat is only eating dry food these days. It's frustrating, but all she will eat. I understand where you are coming from on the food front. *sigh*

Salt,temp, pH, alk, calcium if gunite or fiberglass. Liners don't much care about calcium. Pump, filter type and current running pressure are also helpful information. Scott