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• Please read my comments below before you contact me, because it may not be necessary for you to do so, which could save us both some time.

The Name Issue 

I'm afraid this might embarrass some of you, which is not my intention, but I really feel it's time I clarified this.

My name is Helen, not Tanya.

Tanya was my first CKD cat, in whose honour and memory the site was named. I do answer the many e-mails I receive which are addressed to Tanya, but it is kind of strange masquerading as a blue Persian cat.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if: 

• I've got anything wrong (I've tried my best, but I'm not a vet).

Any Questions?

If you want to ask me a question, please do the following before contacting me:

• remember that I am not a vet and I cannot diagnose or treat your cat.

• check on the Site Overview page if you're having trouble finding something. This site is incredibly comprehensive, and in at least 95% of cases, the answers to the questions I am asked are already available on the site. I do already cover Kidney Support Gold, Astro's Oil, Azodyl, Rubenal and RenAvast.

• I'm afraid I am not currently able to add any stories to the Other People's Losses or Success Stories pages. I am always happy to read about other people's cats, but I am in the middle of a major site review, so I am not adding to these pages at this time.

• if you use some kind of challenge/response system (e.g. earthlink, spamarrest), please whitelist my e-mail address before you write to me, because I won't take the time to add myself to your whitelist. I do answer everyone (except spammers) eventually, so if you use one of these systems and I don't appear to have responded, chances are that I have responded but refused to whitelist myself.

• I get really, really tired of downright rude people sending me e-mails effectively saying things like "tell me this" or "give me this." I know you are stressed, but please remember to use those magic words, please and thank you. Paragraphs are good too. You're not James Joyce, and it's really hard to read a lengthy one paragraph e-mail, let alone find the salient points which require a response. I do answer even rude people eventually, but only because it's not their cat's fault they are rude.

• THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT: if your cat is very sick, or his/her condition has suddenly worsened, you need to contact a qualified vet immediately. The internet can never be a substitute for a qualified vet who can physically examine and treat a sick cat.

Translation Offers

Thus far I have received offers to translate my website into French, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Chinese and Turkish. Whilst I greatly appreciate these kind offers, I am unfortunately unable to accept these or any other offers of translation. This is for three reasons:

1. It is extremely important to me to know that any information provided in my name is as accurate as possible. I allowed my site to be translated into German because I am a qualified translator from German and thus am able to judge the accuracy of the translation. I am not able to do this for any other languages, and I therefore cannot permit any other translations.

2. This site is extraordinarily comprehensive. The English version of the site is now 2000 pages long. This would be a big task even for a professional translator, let alone for an unpaid volunteer.

Please do not consider translating my site without my knowledge or permission. It is a breach of my copyright to do so. This site is a labour of love for me, a work which I freely make available in two languages to people in need of help. Unauthorised translations, however well-meaning, whether for profit or otherwise, are essentially theft.

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