Please help....cat situation...

 so this is kind of a strange question...I have several cats, and i also have a very weird/crazy mother, who comes occasionally and helps out. One of my cats has been having a lot of weird issues....it seems digestive but now it's UTI...my mother had a male cat who recently died of a kidney type disease. My question is  alittle far fetched but im just wondering basically. I'm not saying this is actually happening but just saying what if. Now once when I went away years ago on a trip, my nutty crazy mother came in and turned all the fans and AC off...leaving my two cats suffering in heat for six days. I flipped out when I got back because I had no idea. They could have died, luckily they lived but have had breathing problems since. I was furious at my mother who is a sociopath I assume and she literally defended herself to this day as if she did nothing wrong, and that 85-90 degrees was TOTALLY ok for the cats and even threatened the police on me. She did all that to get back at ME...ie hurt my cats. it was horrendous and no one helped or cared and even tried to blame me ie the victim. Yes I knew she was evil and disturbed but I didn't think she would go so far as to trying to hurt my cats that way. No one in my family helped me and EVERYONE defended her...so me and my cats didn get anything except more harassment and mistreatment. In fact my sister said my mother could have called the cops on me b/c I yelled at her...or something. My mother is 60 years old and deranged and is capable of anything from what ive seen. She's still in my life because...I have no one where I live who can help out so yes I invite a sociopath but again you don't THINK that she is doing something malicious to you...

I have always feared/suspected something when it came to the cats...fear of her doing something bad to them...recently, I took a trip out of state again and I feared she might come and hurt my cats again. I have a few more now so I have four so I was terrified. I told her many times...that she better not come or touch the AC at my place. (I live in a place my parents own and pay my dad rent why she even has keys--technically she sees it as her place)...I did install Skype and she did come the last night I was away...but everything SEEMED to be ok? ..for the past 1.5 months one of my cats has been having some weird issues. my mother's male cat recently died of kidney issues and somewhere in the back of my mind...I did suspect foul play on her part...though I doubt it but its just something I feared/suspected but ot course im not sure have no proof or real reason...this time however, my favorite cat has just been having LOTS of weird problems. the vet hasn't been good and its been trying. when I called my mother regarding the care credit card that's in her name, that I use and pay for, she said "theyre just RIPPING you off....she has a kidney problem." I said...how on earth would you know she has a kidney problem...huh?? so her statement...of course now is scaring the crap out of me. why would she even say that? yes she may have just SAID it....but honestly...a devious sociopath like her....someone who would carefully plan something..to sabotage/hurt someone or a pet....she Is fully capable and has DONE before. I cant fight it because everyone else in my family treats me like im evil for accusing her of what she does and apparently she can get away with murder if she wants....so with this long explanation my question is..

if someone DID want to directly hurt a cat's kidneys...in some form...what could they POSSIBLY do to cause this??? of course im sure there are a number of ways....toxins, poisons etc...whoi knows...but is there something SPECIFIC that a person can do to actually cause kidney problems in a cat??? now im really scared that she might be doing something....I don't know what she could be doing but that's the problem. Sometimes shes with them alone...maybe for a day while im at work. she only stays one night but people who are evil/devious find ways of doing what they want to do. im really scared now b/c I find it so WEIRD she said the cat had kidney issues....why would she say that??? its as if she knew..and was saying oh youre wasting your time...I said...why would you think its kidney issues? she said....well what else could It be??? this woman is VERY sick apparently and capable of anything....does anyone know how a person could hurt a cat's kidneys..anything specific they could do/use....im searching around my house to try to find things...but I don't think I will. could she be feeding them something on the side??? im really scared now..and scared for my cats...

First, I'm really sorry that you're dealing with this. I had a crazy mom that hurt animals too, so I know how that feels.

Second, find out more what you can do about your living situation. For example , the person who owns the home that I rent is not allowed to just walk into my home. The law protects my rights in my home. You may start with changing the locks. Better yet, move. I'll live in a dump over giving a sociopath access to my cats.

Is there anyone else you could ask about helping you with your cats? A coworker, someone?

Bottom line, you know that she is incapable of caring for your cats so you need to find other means.

I'd move. If your paying rent and don't have a standard rental contract ask for one. It will say they need to proved 24hrs notice to acess the house.. Enough time to get the cats to a friends etc... Also when going away have you conciderd hiring a pet sitter or a close friend? Idk what can be used to poison a cat sorry

I'm sorry to hear that you're in such a bad situation.

First of all, even if you live in property that is owned by a relative you have the same rights as any other paying tenant. Your landlord cannot just walk into your apartment without giving you any notice. I think you need to get some legal advice about how to obtain a written contract between yourself and you parents. If your parents are unwilling to respect your rights, move. If I were in your position and I suspected that anyone had access to my apartment  and was likely to harm my cats I'd move as soon as I could.

If you think that your mother has done something to harm your cat you should take her to a vet and tell them you suspect she has been poisoned. Is there another vet in your area that might be more helpful? Even if you can't use your parent's credit card it would be worth paying a little extra just to set your mind at rest.

It sounds as if your mother likes manipulating you by having control over the credit card, the apartment etc. I think you should put as much distance between her and your cats as you can before something tragic happens. If your family won't back you up are there any friends you could ask for help? 

I hope it all works out and your cats are OK.

When one has experienced a pet suffering from a particular health problem, one's mind tends to jump to it when somebody describes how their pet is exhibiting similar symptoms. Our last cat had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, so when members post that their cats are coughing or wheezing, I immediately think of heart trouble, rather than a respiratory infection or asthma, which are just as likely. It's the same with diarrhea, which can have any number of causes. Our cat has IBD, so that's what I suspect first. There's nothing sinister about it.

Any number of things can damage a cat's kidneys, and I honestly don't think it's advisable to make a neat little list available here for anybody "out there" Googling to find ways to harm a cat or cats.

I'd also find some way to move and establish my own "credit" (such as a secured credit card).

Best wishes.

I don't think the cat lovers on here will probably want to answer and tell ways to harm cats'  kidneys.  You can probably find that out if you really want to know. 

But I don't think her saying it's the kidneys is  a definite sign that she did anything to cause it,  and I don't even think it is weird that she would say that.   Just like jcat said,   since your mom's cat had that problem ( which is very common in cats and her vet may have told her that) , it's not surprising that kidney problems would be what she thinks of when she hears of a cat being sick...just like I might  think of diabetes  because of having a diabetic cat .   

Even the earlier episode doesn't sound like it had to be intentionally done to harm the cats.  A lot of people would have that attitude, " Well cats survive outside,  so these ones don't need the AC on,  it's a waste of electricity."    I can totally imagine my own non-sociopathic parents thinking that.     And it's true that cats did originally come from desert areas.  and also true that many cats would be OK at those temperatures if they have plenty of water and have some ventilation.  

If she turned off the AC without opening the windows,  that was stupid but not necessarily deliberate abuse.  though some like Persians with the flat face and super long thick coats,  might have a problem.    Now, if she also dumped all the water,  then I would absolutely believe she was trying to hurt your cats. 

 But I agree with the comments that  if you are concerned about your mom harming your cats,  you need to move.   You could also try to get a proper landlord - tenant contract with your parents  but she might ignore it anyway .     So really the best would be to just move out to your own place and don't give her a key. 

If you are worried about your cat's kidneys go get some testing done and put the cat on fluids if needed. The best thing is to flush them out.    & then keep them on a wet diet not too high in phosphorus & not all fish. .