Oh I'm so sorry to hear about this. Many people have suggested:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-CRF-Support/

Here's a website that has a ton of useful info about CRF - all of the
stages, which I hope will help you out:
http://www.felinecrf.org/

Cathy

Don't give up, especially at that young age.  My cat Amber was also
diagnosed with CRF, and she also had IBD.  In her case, the problem was
first noticed in routine blood work done as part of her annual exam when she
was age 13.  Up until that time, she had appeared to be completely healthy.
Three months later, her readings were dramatically worse and she had lost
weight.  I was told that she probably would not live more than a few
weeks -- "three months at the most."  I did not have the problem you
described concerning Magic's reaction to the vet (Amber would basically
meatloaf on the examining table), but other parts of your description sound
very similar.  We had to try a variety of canned foods because almost
everything caused vomiting and extreme diarrhea.  We finally found one of
the prescription canned foods that worked well, but it was not the one that
most vets first start with for CRF.  It has been a number of years, and I no
longer remember which one "did the trick," but it took a period of
experimentation.  That worked well for quite some time, although chronic
diarrhea remained a problem.  We found that Imodium AD was an excellent
treatment for that -- pills were easier to administer than liquids, and the
vet showed me how to trim the tablet down to a BB-size for her small weight.
For awhile, she was also treated with Prednisone.  As I recall, we first
gradually increased the dosage, then a plateau, then gradually reduced.
Eventually, we had to use it on a more consistent basis.  As time
progressed, there were times when she seemed unable to eat.  She would come
to her food, sit there with her head over the bowl, then leave without
eating.  My mother (who grew up on a farm) told me what her father used to
do in those instances, and it worked very well for Amber.  That is, I took
chicken pieces (*include* the skin and bones, for nourishment) and boiled
them for a *very* long time.  The point was, I wasn't trying to get the
actual chicken; I needed to boil until I could reduce the liquid and use
that.  Then I would refrigerate the liquid.  After refrigeration, it would
be a gel (if not, it wasn't boiled long enough or too much water was used in
the beginning) and skim off the fat.  Several times a day, I would microwave
a tablespoon of that just enough to melt it and get it slightly warm (*not*
hot) and would a needleless syringe provided by the vet to get some down her
throat.  Be careful doing that -- I aimed for the side of her throat, not
the center to avoid choking, and was careful not to use too much.  After a
couple of days, this would stimulate her appetite to the point where she
returned to her normal eating pattern and I could discontinue that part of
her treatment (although I would continue to pour a small amount on her food
for a couple of days, then discard the rest).

The end result of all this is:  Amber lived another 3 years, not just 3
months, and they were very good years.  My vet was amazed that she lived for
so long and seemed so happy.  She needed continuous treatment such as I
described, but she remained a happy, loving (and dearly loved!) cat.  She
did continue to gradually lose weight, despite all our precautions, and she
periodically needed Ringer's lactate to prevent dehydration.  You need to
watch carefully for that -- and act promptly -- especially if your cat has
diarrhea because a cat can quickly become dehydrated.  My vet gave me the
names of specialists at 3 different colleges of veterinary medicine, and I
called them for telephone consultation.  Remarkably, all 3 gave me a lot of
time and did not charge anything for the "long-distance consultations."
Given Amber's age and condition, they confirmed what I was doing and thought
it would be best not to subject her to the travel needed to get to a
veterinary college.  If I were you, I would strongly consider getting to the
closest veterinary school for additional diagnostic work because your cat is
*very* young for this diagnosis.  It is important to act fast because a cat
can decline very quickly under these circumstances.  You may need to ask
your vet to call the veterinary school and give them a referral plus fax a
copy of Magic's records to them.

Good luck with all this, and please keep us informed.

MaryL

I'm so sorry to hear about this, but don't give up just yet.

Others have already recommended a couple of excellent sites to help
you.  All I can add is my sympathies, and to give you hope by telling
you I have a CRF cat who was diagnosed nearly five years ago, so you
never know.

Best of luck to you.

Blessings,

Ginger-lyn

One of my cats has CRF, I've previously had two other CRF'ers.  There not
much I haven't heard.  My sookyboo is 19 and as cantankerous and contrary as
anything.  My vet laughs and says good luck with fluids, and yes they do
sedate him at the vet.  But at home, I have no problems getting his fluids
in him, I hold him in my arms, {his favourite place) and my roommate gives
him the fluids.  One of my other cats we wrapped in a towel and cut a square
from the towel for the needle.  But with each of our three cats, once they
realized how good they feel after the fluids, they seemed to welcome them.
Sook starts howling under the cupboard that holds the supplies at 11 every
two nights, he knows its part of the routine, and he wants them.

I'm sure after trial and error and many frustrated attempts and tears you'll
be able to find a way to give your cat fluids too.

Please give your baby a scratch behind the ears from me.

First of all, it's helpful to understand what the readings indicate. Here's
an explanation:

Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) - BUN is produced by the liver and excreted by
the kidneys. Decreased levels are seen with low protein diets, liver
insufficiency, and the use of anabolic steroid drug. Increased levels
indicate any condition that reduces the kidney's ability to filter body
fluids in the body or interferes with protein breakdown.

Creatinine (CREA) - Creatinine is a by-product of muscle metabolism and is
excreted by the kidneys. Elevated levels can indicate kidney disease or
urinary obstruction, muscle disease, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and
disbetes. An increased BUN and normal creatinine suggest an early or mild
problem. An increased creatinine and increased BUN with elevated
phosphorus indicate a long standing kidney disease.

You might want to try using Milk Thistle to help cleanse the liver. Just
open a 175 mg capsule and sprinkle it on the food. You might have to force
feed to make sure it's all taken. Last year, one of my cats turned yellow
because of a liver infection. I gave him Milk Thistle and he made a
remarkable recovery.

Have you used any flea products lately? That could be a cause of toxins in
the blood.

Giving sub-q fluids really isn't hard to do, I have 3 that need them right
now. Here's a site that shows how to give sub-q fluids.
http://members.aol.com/aquila111/subq/webinstruct.html

I hope everything works out ok. Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Triciasue

First of all, it's helpful to understand what the readings indicate. Here's
an explanation:

Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) - BUN is produced by the liver and excreted by
the kidneys. Decreased levels are seen with low protein diets, liver
insufficiency, and the use of anabolic steroid drug. Increased levels
indicate any condition that reduces the kidney's ability to filter body
fluids in the body or interferes with protein breakdown.

Creatinine (CREA) - Creatinine is a by-product of muscle metabolism and is
excreted by the kidneys. Elevated levels can indicate kidney disease or
urinary obstruction, muscle disease, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and
disbetes. An increased BUN and normal creatinine suggest an early or mild
problem. An increased creatinine and increased BUN with elevated
phosphorus indicate a long standing kidney disease.

You might want to try using Milk Thistle to help cleanse the liver. Just
open a 175 mg capsule and sprinkle it on the food. You might have to force
feed to make sure it's all taken. Last year, one of my cats turned yellow
because of a liver infection. I gave him Milk Thistle and he made a
remarkable recovery.

Have you used any flea products lately? That could be a cause of toxins in
the blood.

Giving sub-q fluids really isn't hard to do, I have 3 that need them right
now. Here's a site that shows how to give sub-q fluids.
http://members.aol.com/aquila111/subq/webinstruct.html

I hope everything works out ok. Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Triciasue

I get the impression this came on rather suddenly.  Usually, azotemia
doesn't become that severe in CRF cats until late in the disease.  He's too
young to be in late stage CRF.  My guess is he's in *acute renal* failure -
which is almost impossible to distinguish from CRF because ARF has three
phases.  The maintainence phase and early recovery phase of ARF are almost
identical in charcteristics to CRF.

Routine fluid diruresis is usually not enough to clean him out fast enough.
I think you should locate a veterinary hospital (rather than a local vet)
because your cat probably needs *intense* diruesis - which is the addition
of diuretics to the fluids.  Intesnse diuresis permits uremic toxins to be
removed from the blood much more rapidly.

There's even a more rapid and effective technique for removing uremic toxins
from the blood.  Its call peritoneal dialysis.  Don't be intimidated by the
name - the cat doesn't go on a dialysis machine. In short, PD involves
placing a catheter in your cat's abdomen and filling the abdominal cavity
with fluid and then draining it out after the toxins have filtered into the
fluid.  Instead of a filtering membrane in a machine, the cat uses his own
peritoneum to filter the toxins.  This procedure is *very* effective but it
should be perfomed only by someone experienced in the technique - which most
local vets are not.

Best of luck,

Phil