Renal Failure on young cat- desperate for advice

Hi. I have lost two cats in the past 5 months.  I know I am going to cry the whole time I write this.    I have owned a cats my whole life, so this is not something I am new at or a lack of knowledge.  I rescued a cat from the humane society at 10 months old.  She lived with us for a year and 3 months.  Georgia was a dilute calico, ragdoll, and maybe some coon.  She was the most amazing cat I have ever owned.  I noticed that she never really peed a lot but didn't think too much about it because she was on the petite side.  But she really peed a fourth of amount than my other cat did.  She peed consistently, just not a huge amount.  I noticed she stopped grooming herself, had lost weight, and didn't want to eat.  She was kinda acting weird for a week, but nothing to give off that I knew she was sick per say.  I took her to the vet and they ran blood work and she was in renal failure.  Her levels were off the charts on some of the things.  She was dying and they said it was best to put her down.  Worst day ever! She died the day before Thanksgiving. I didn't understand how this could happen.  The vet mentioned something toxic and we went through the typical list and nothing made sense.  I don't have plants, no meds on the floor or for her to get access to, no antifreeze, etc.  She was an indoor only cat as well.  I know that when I look back on pictures now, I can see 3 weeks prior that her fur didn't look as nice as normal, etc.  I didn't notice anything during the time though as a red flag.  Her breath had turned to smelling bad over a few months, but didn't think too much about that because pet's breath aren't the best smelling things. 

So, I researched galore on what could have happened.  Read about how dry food diet are hard on kidney, looked up any toxin possible, read how a water fountain promotes more drinking to hydrate kidneys, etc.  I knew I wanted a ragdoll so I sought out a reparable breeder.  I didn't go to joe smoe, but someone who knew what they were doing, had lots of history, everything checked out.  We got a kitten from her.  We did get the kitten pretty fast after Georgia because my youngest son was having an extremely hard time with her loss.  Samson, the new kitten, arrived.  He stayed in my room for the first two weeks with a little supervised downstairs time.  We finally let him out during the day when we were out more.  He was so little and our house was so big, I was paranoid that he would pee somewhere on accident or get lost, so I watched him like a hawk.  Plus, he was like a dog.  He never left my side, ever! We had guest come into town, so he was babied all day long and no one let him out of their site because they wanted to be with him. He ate expensive food (dry and wet) and had a new water fountain.  I did everything to make sure this cat was not going to have a problem!  Within 2 weeks and 5 days of having him, he seemed to not feel good.  My vet friend said it was probably upset tummy from the different wet food.  I thought he was dying because I just did this and was SO paranoid!  He threw up a tiny bit two times.  The next morning was the same.  I knew something was wrong in my gut.  I took him to the vet ER.  They did an x-ray and blood work.  He did have wet gas in his belly, but his bloodwork said KIDNEY FAILURE!  I can not tell you how devastated I felt and shocked.  Vet and I went through the whole toxic thing again.  He tells me it doesn't sound like you have anything.  The kitten had been in my room and in the our living room/kitchen only.  He was always with someone too.  HOW IS THIS HAPPENING AGAIN!?!?!?!  The vet told me that my identical situation happened to his wife and him and they are both vets.  He said he thought it was really bad luck.  Samson died 3 weeks after we got him. 

I flipped my house upside down praying to find something so I can just know why!  Nothing!  Nothing is here!  I have gone through theories galore about it.  Is it the tap water, is it something in my hard wood floors, is my house poisoned somehow, etc.  I have come to a dead end on every theory.  I am so scared to get a cat and have something happen again.  I have been reassured by many that it is not going to happen and it what was it was.  Our breeder is replacing the kitten with a little older one that will be from a different mother and father eventually.  I don't know what I am looking for as far as an answer, but I just wanted to know if anyone has ever had something like this happen or ideas of what it could be.  This is an extremely hard and sensitive thing for me to share and tell a bunch of people.  I appreciate anything you can offer me.  Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Also, I have a boxer that lives in the house with us.  She is perfectly fine and has lived in the house for two years.

Hi Humminbird,

I am so sorry to hear about your kittens.  My cat also died from kidney disease, but in his case he lived an apparently normal life for 7 years after being diagnosed so I have no experience with the sudden losses you describe.  I'm writing mostly just to tell you how sorry I am for your loss and to tell you that you have posted in the right place.  There are a lot of very knowledgeable and experienced cat lovers on this forum and they should be able to offer you lots of good advice.  To me, it seems like you did everything right for your poor babies. 

Although I do not have a dog now, my past dogs have all been boxers, except for one half boxer-half standard poodle mix (beautiful dog - looked like a black lab and incredibly smart).  My experience with boxers is that they are not the healthiest breed out there so the fact that your boxer is doing well is probably a good sign when it comes to environmental toxins or something in your house that might be causing the problem.    Still, I agree, it does seem like a strange coincidence.  I hope you get some answers soon so that you can feel comfortable adopting a new cat. 

Again, I am very very sorry to hear about what you are going through.

Things happens...

But could it be cleaning products? or the food brand he eats?

Oh my goodness, this is alarming. Acute renal failure is almost always poisoning. The vets were right in treating it that way. I'm surprised that none of them offered to try and save the other two cats? Perhaps they were just too far gone.

Any human food that they might have gotten into? Grapes/raisins?

What cleaning products do you use? That could be it, but most of the time for a toxic reaction like this the cleaner needs to come in contact with them or have been used in their food/water bowls, etc.

Is it possible to plan on taking this new kitten to a first vet visit, have them run blood work as a baseline, and then take this kitten back to the vet a week later to have blood work done again and make sure that things aren't changing? You need some kind of safety net to ensure that you don't let another one die. If the vet catches it in time, then many cases of acute renal failure can be reversed. That's a lot of money I know, but just thinking that it would at least give you peace of mind.

Margd: Thank you for your kind words. Our dog is a rescue and came with lots of health problems. Boxers are not the healthiest dogs for sure.

Mum of two: I haven't switched cleaning products. They are all locked up...I have kids. Never leave anything soaking or not wiped up. They both were on super expensive quality food. Checked for recalls as well. Each cat was on a different brand. Thank you for your comments. I am happy to get outside thoughts as I am at a loss.

ManeMelissa: Thank you for your thoughts. The kitten was way too far sick to save. We were there at the ER for 8 hrs and he was literally dying more ever hour. [emoji]128532[/emoji] It was horrible! They recommended that we put Georgia down. She said she would die from it probably within a short time if we tried to do anything. I knew nothing about renal failure at the time either. She was not my normal vet. It was day before Thanksgiving and everyone was closed, but these people. So, it was my first time going to them.
No human food ever. We don't really have grapes or raisins, etc. The food water bowls were only washed by hand. No harsh chemicals used ever on their stuff. The kitten used different bowls than Georgia. All the chemicals in my house have stayed the same as well as my habits for years. I had a cat for 13 years before. ???
Background: We moved to this house we rent two years ago. We moved with our cat. She died within a month after we got here, but we were expecting it. She was 13 years old and not doing well. She started to act kitten like and nice to everyone. It was just like what people said about them acting like they use to before she died. She had had fluid building up in her lungs. Georgia lived here for 1 year 3 months. Everything the same. They said she might of had some degenerative kidney disease and we didn't know. This was from the vet that saw the kitten. She had some signs when we look back, but not sure. She also didn't look 100% in pictures 3 weeks before she died. The kitten was here 3 weeks. They said it could be congenital kidney problems. The things is we don't know for sure at all what it was. That bothers me a lot!! I want to make sure my house is safe and can't lose another animal. It is the worst thing in the world to deal with.
I planned on getting the our next cat a blood test when it first got here. I will do another in a couple weeks. Great idea!! I just want a concrete answer for my sanity. I feel so helpless in this situation and it has been so hard to go through. Thank you again for your comments. I truly appreciate any advice.

i am so sorry to hear all of this. and for your sake, make sure your next cat is not a Persian, British Shorthair, Exotic, Scottish Fold, or Himalayan.

What a painful experience, I am so sorry this has happened. Kidney disease can be congenital - I would doubt it has anything to do with your environment, you are so careful. Getting that kitten and testing it will tell if there is.

My own experience with cats is that there's often just no explanation for their getting sick. I blamed myself for one cat's kidney disease and another's oral cancer, only to find many others whose cats died of the same things. Sometimes, we just can't explain it.

Above all, don't blame yourself/ These guys had your love in the short time they were with you. And that is a lot.

Let us know what happens with the new one, I will be thinking of you .

Thank you.  I am trying to not blame myself, but it is hard.  It has been 3 months since Samson died and I have literally gone through so many theories in my head.  I did talk to my husband's friend who is a vet and explained everything to him tonight.  He said that it could have been FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis).  I know that the vet and the breeder talked on the phone about this and the vet said he couldn't say it was or wasn't FIP.  FIP can live in your house for 7 weeks without a host!  IF it was FIP, and that is not for sure at all, it would have been in our house still when the new kitten came in.  We did have a guarantee from the breeder for 2 years, so we will be getting another ragdoll at one point.  I love that breed and their personality is amazing!!!!  I love all cats actually.  lol 

Cats are more sensitives than humans, I'm thinking maybe air fresheners? any plants in your garden that could be poisonous to pets? Maybe someone could be feeding them something if they're outdoor cats, or maybe something in the neighbors garden/house?

If you are renting I would move. Rental houses are often chemically treated for bed bugs, roaches etc. There could be something toxic in your house! Roach killer in the closet, moth balls... something. Something they treated the carpet with?

I bred gerbils for several years. I had a young litter, just opened their eyes and started exploring. They loved cardboard so I gave them some. I didn't realize the boxes had been treated with rat killer. They got very sick with in minutes, I was very fortunate I noticed right away. All recovered, but if I had left them for hours? I have no doubt they would have died.

No cardboard boxes for my cats! You don't know if the boxes are treated or not!

I lost my dog to acute kidney failure. He got out of the yard for the first time the week before. Did he get into poison? I don't really know what happened.. the vet thought it was an infection. Granted he did turn grey at six years old and he was a huge dog, but it was too soon to lose him.

You are right to be concerned. With apartments you don't know what has been sprayed in the environment.

Cleaning chemicals linger on the surface, if your cat licks it, he could be exposed. Or when grooming.

There are so many chemicals out there, better to play on the safe side. The apartment is a big unknown. Even if you talk to management, doesn't mean the previous tenent didn't do something that management is unaware of.

The place I used to live had a cancer outbreak. A local company was storing toxic waste in leaky rusty containers, which got into the water supply.

It could be congenital too. It is so difficult when you don't know why.... I asked myself those same questions when raven died. Why? Why? Why? The difference is my other dogs are healthy so it probably wasn't something on my property. I have horses so no poisonous plants.

I hope you find closure, and it is only a freak thing. Were they both on the same food?

I'm so sorry! It must be so devastating to lose 2 furbabies like.

I'm going to try to reply again because I can't see my last post...it's just blank.

Mum of two:  Definitely not air fresheners.  I am allergic to all fragrance and lots of chemicals, so no nice smelling things in my house.  They were both inside cats only.  No live plants in the house and I don't care for flowers either so my hubby doesn't bring any home.  I would rather get chocolate as an I love you gift.  lol   

Sarah Ann:  Unfortunately, there is no option of moving until next year.  We live in a house and we are the first renters.  The people before us had a bug company, but they didn't do anything out of the norm.  CO doesn't really have bug problems.  Our pests are bears, coyotes, rabbits, mountain lions, etc.  lol  Thank goodness the only ones around my house are usually rabbits and maybe a coyote here and there.  Anyways, I also looked into the carpet idea before as well.  I know the company that I used for our carpet and the ones the owners used.  Nothing out of the ordinary either.  The vet said that if it was the carpet, it would have a lot would have to be ingested to reach a toxic level.  Our carpet was last treated 2 years ago, but normal steam cleaning.  Thank you for your comments and ideas as well.

     That is scary about your gerbils!  I am glad that they are all safe.  We don't have any rodent or bug killers in the house.  They were both of high quality food and I did check for recalls.  Different brands, but not a cause.  I wish it was something I could find because it would be easier to accept.  It would be hard evidence and I could put this to rest. 

    I have to say that the vet I talked to with the FIP theory makes sense.  I talked about it in a previous post.  The problem is it is another theory and not a for sure.  Grrr.  Thank you so much for your comments.

MnM: Thank you for your kind words.  It has been very devastating.  I don't know when this wound will heal or if it ever will completely.

Georgia is the greyish one and Samson is the baby Ragdoll.  Here are my babies:

View media item 263490
View media item 263491

I feel it's something in the house.
Toilet bowl cleaners?

Maybe they have access to a place in your house, you know cats love to explore, so maybe there's a hidden area in your house.

Where is their food kept and served?

But for now, don't adopt until you move out, just to be safe.

Both cats never drank out the toilet.  The toilet lids are usually down because of our dog and her jowls with water everywhere.  I know the kitten never did because the lids were for sure shut because I was afraid he would fall in.  The kitten only was in three rooms in the whole house.  Our kitchen/family room and my bedroom with bathroom.  The thing is the kitten was literally with someone at all times being watched except when we were asleep at night in our room which he was locked in.  He was so little and our house was so big, I was paranoid.  There food was kept in a container, not the bag.  I poured it in as soon as it was opened.  I think toxic makes sense as the easiest idea, but just doesn't hold up when researched.  Especially when the kitten was never out of sight basically and restricted so much.  I don't know what the answer is unfortunately. 

humminbird712 said:

 
Both cats never drank out the toilet.  The toilet lids are usually down because of our dog and her jowls with water everywhere.  I know the kitten never did because the lids were for sure shut because I was afraid he would fall in.  The kitten only was in three rooms in the whole house.  Our kitchen/family room and my bedroom with bathroom.  The thing is the kitten was literally with someone at all times being watched except when we were asleep at night in our room which he was locked in.  He was so little and our house was so big, I was paranoid.  There food was kept in a container, not the bag.  I poured it in as soon as it was opened.   I think toxic makes sense as the easiest idea, but just doesn't hold up when researched.  Especially when the kitten was never out of sight basically and restricted so much.  I don't know what the answer is unfortunately. 

Click to expand...

what kind of container? 

Hi Hummingbird712  I hope you come back online to see more posts.  You didn't mention if the cats had chronic renal failure or acute renal failure.  Sounds like acute renal failure.  If a cat starts to act abnormal, always be and take action with a  good vet.  So sorry about your beautiful kitties.  Cats with renal failure need a low protein low phosphorus diet.  They do get thin and hair gets scraggly looking.  My cat is on IV at home and special food. He pees a lot and can have constipation from dehydration which he takes Miralax and a stool softener from the vet in liquid form.   I don't know f you are aware that certain brands of cat food and dog food are killing animals left and right.  I see it here where I live.  Go! brand canned food is .045% as fed on phosphorus.  Most bagged food does not list phosphorus which is sad.  Check into this website felinecrf.org Tones of useful information on renal failure and chronic kidney disease.  People can post blood work for others to see and compare.  Files are on right hand side.  They are also on facebook.  I have never heard of a cat getting into poison and causing renal failure.  Unless it is in the food.  Again sorry for your loss.  Hope this information helps.  Good luck!