I think pet food is an unlikely explanation, since it’s being watched so closely these days. This really sounds like unrelated incidents, but if you want to dig into it, try to get the vets who treated these animals to communicate with each other — especially the ones who treated the kitten and the puppy (the other dog really sounds like there’s no reason to suspect a connection). They may be able to look at some blood tests and say for sure it wasn’t the same thing. Or they might see similarities and start checking with other vets in online professional forums. Possibly some virus that tends to take hold in very young animals whose immune systems aren’t fully developed yet. But unless extensive blood work and other diagnostics were done on both the puppy and kitten, it’s unlikely that there will be any way to determine whether there was a connection.
“since it’s being watched so closely these days” how exactly is it being watched? by whom, not the gov’t. the human food supply isn’t being watched. USDA is grossly understaffed and incapable of “watching” the food supply.
We are holding onto the bag of food we were feeding the kitty just in case someone wants to test it at a later date. And we’re wondering if there is a pet virus going around. We’re also not ruling out coincidence.
Our cat food is a completely different brand than what our friend’s dog was eating. As for the third dog, I don’t know how old the dog was nor anything about the family who owned the animal. I’m hoping our friend will find out more about the third dog tonight.
I’m not so sure about the “being watched so closely” regarding pet food these days. But I’m trying to keep an open mind . . .