hi all hoping someone can shed some light for me 4 weeks ago my 7 year old cat had to be put to sleep due to kidney failure the vet said this was the worse case she had seen as her blood was off the scale,
recently me and my husband has had a big falling out with his family very much into cats, and have accused us of killing our girl as we let her out in the night and they say this is what has caused this basically we are cat killers, the vet said it could be caused by lillies, antifreeze,
which we have said this but no to them its down to be out at night,
if anyone could give me some info on this and peace of mind its not through her being out at night
thanks donna

It could be many causes and without a full autopsy it cannot be blamed on any one thing.

Ignore your family as firstly they don't know and are making assumptions and secondly how unsensitive they are being after you have just lost your cat.

Letting cats out does have risks but all risks are based on likelyhood and if as they say lilies are the cause it is more likely in doors as outdoor lillies flowering in November :-)

Sorry that you lost your cat but try and move on as you will never get the answer by speculating :-)

thankyou for your reply vet never mentioned anything about her going outside her mum had it too 2 years ago and she was a feral cat, so thats why they said she had it because her mum lived outside

So that leads towards more likely a hereditary condition rather than an environmental cause because of probability of the mother and off spring dying of the same thing but again only an assumption :-)

Oh my gosh, your husbands family should me more understanding about the grief and loss you are going through :(

I am sorry for your loss, please don't let these people make you feel worse.
Letting a cat out over-night does not cause kidney failiure!

> he vet said it could be caused by lillies, antifreeze

and these things are just as accesable to a cat during the day as they are at night!

I try to keep my cat in at night, but that is due to us living near a busy road, that appears to claim cats lives much more often at night than during the day.
My cat has spent several nights out, she has not had kidney failiure. My previous cats would often spend the night out, none of them have had kidney faliure. My dad has 5 cats (aged from approx 8yrs - 13yrs), a couple of which stay out most nights - none have had or have kidney faliure.

Your husbands family are being very nasty, being cat people thierself should know how hard it is when a cat dies.

thankyou both for the replies its peace of mind that we wasnt to cause this, we will prob still be getting blamed no matter happens but now i know that it was nothing we done thanks again

What a horrible thing to say to you!

I have lost two cats to kidney failure.  The first had chronic failure for 4 years before she was PTS; she was 16 when it started.  In her whole life (with us from 6 weeks) she never went beyond the boundaries of our property and would have had no access to antifreeze etc as I kept it safe for her and the others.

The second was found under our car at 5 months old.  From then on she did wander a little bit, but her kidney failure (acute) didn't develop until she was 9yrs old - if going out at night was responsible, surely she would have developed it much earlier?

Fact is it's quite common in middle aged and older cats and she may well have developed it even if you'd kept her indoors!

I lost one of mine at 7 years old from acute kidney failure, and she only ever went out for short supervised trips in the garden. The fact is that cats can lose 70% or more of their kidney function before they show symptoms, and by then it may already be too late. There are also inherited kidney diseases... I think only one of those can be tested for.

There was also the possibility of deliberate poisoning in my cat's case, but the vets told me that would more likely have affected her liver, not her kidneys. Mind you that was well over a decade ago and they may be more up on these things now, but no antifreeze or lilies were involved.

">and have accused us of killing our girl as we let her out in the night and they say this is what has caused this basically we are cat killers, the vet said it could be caused by lillies, antifreeze,

If being left out at night is bad for cats then my 14yr old is doomed!! As for lillies, what in November, as for anti freeze we're not even into the really cold weather yet.

Your OH's family have lost the plot, you didn't kill your cat, your cat possibly had health issues going on that were nothing to do with your care of her.
Your OH's family are being very unfair to you both, if they love cats as much as they say perhaps it would be good of them to transfer some of that love to a cat loving couple that have just lost a cat.

I am sorry for the loss of you cat and also think it is unfeeling of the family to put the blame on you.
I really hope they will have the decency to rethink what they have said and comfort you not accuse you.


Firstly I cannot see any reason why your cat would be more at risk at night from environmental factors that would cause kidney failure than if he (she ) goes out during the day.

My elderly cat of 16 developed kidney problems in the latter months of his life and as far as the vet was concerned it was something that often happened in an elderly animal. I dont knnow the age of you cat but it could have been any number of reasons and I am sure the vet would have questioned if he felt it necessary
Yes there are risks of letting cats out at night and people have differing views.My cats have all been free to come and go through cat flaps and as it happened the one who had a car accident had the accident during the day.

Good words pinky

Polycystic Kidney Disease used to be seen in more than 50 % of all Persians and Exotics -these days the figures should be much much lower as us breeders DNA test our cats before breeding from them. Cats with PKD are born with it as kittens and can appear perfectly healthy for years, and then very suddenly get ill -when can vary form one year of age to about 9. A lot of people (and vets!) think it is a "Persian disease" but the simple fact is that PKD (which only needs one affected parent to pass it on to their kittens) has been found in all sorts of other pedigree breeds (most, even) as well as MOGGIES. So much as I personally would not let a cat outside, possible kidney failure would NOT be a reason for that. A cat dying of kidney failure aged 7 may very well have been born with PKD.

thank you all for the replies i feel so much better now we let cleo out everynight due to me being pregnant then having my little girl who is now 5, but she was always put out as she wanted to go out she had a warm shed with blankets and was in during the day,
they still being firm that we have done this and we should never let her out both the mother in law and sister keeps there cat in 24,7 the mother because she only has one eye and the sister because she never wants to let him out of her sight,
even when they work long hours and the cat is in the window looking to go out,
i did say to my other half that its not bad after 7 years we finally killed her, what a load of rubbish they talk
thankas again donna

Donna as the others have said, you are not to blame for your cats condition.

Up until about 3 months ago, I had 3, 17 year old cats, they grew up together.  One was on Fortekar for kidney failure for the last 3 years, and she passed away 1st, then another one had kidney and liver failure.  I have one old girl left who (touch wood) seems to be ok and a 9 year old who is fine. My cats were in at night but out in the day.  Our road is like a rat run so I prefer them to be in at night.

I was given an 11 year old female Birman in August due to her owner passing away (I was boarding her at the time).  She is also on Fortekar for low grade kidney disease and has never set foot outside (yet!)  She was always a house cat.

I have alot of cats boarding who are on kidney tablets to look after, all ages, all breeds, and alot of those go out at night in all weathers! Bladder problems are common aswell.  I too, would have thought cats were more likely to face more hazzards in the day rather than at night.

Some of our customers cats who are diagnosed with kidney problems can go on for years being on Fortekar tablets.  My girl was on the tablets for 3 years.  The problem is alot of cats dont show any symptoms so the condition can be advanced when owners realise that they are not right.  Cats seem to cope better with kidney/thyroid/bladder problems, whereas I think dogs tend to show they are not right far more in advance.

You are not to blame in any way shape or form for this. We all want our pets to live forever but unfortunately nature doesnt allow this and there is nothing we can do to stop it unfortunately.

Cats are very fickle and they are very much individuals and like to own us rather than the other way round :).  So take no notice! :)

Sorry about you cat and the trouble your husbands family are giving you.  The following link may give you some further information.

http://www.felinecrf.org/acute_renal_failure.htm

Please don't blame yourself.

We lost our havana cat at 5 and a half to kidney failure, it was discovered to be hereditary and until he became sick and losing weight we didn't know anything was wrong with him. we went to a reputable breeder (or so we thought) He was a house cat and it broke my heart to make the decision to have him PTS. I kept him alive for 2 weeks longer than i should have because i couldn't let go and that guilt was with me for a very long time.

All that I remember now is that for his short life we gave him the best of everything and he was loved and cherished by the whole family, just as yours was.
Kidney disease is a terrible thing and it happens more often than we know.