PORTLAND (AP) - A 15-year-old cat whose kidneys failed after she ate wet food involved in a national recall has died, an animal hospital reported.

The cat, named Zoe, was among 15 animals statewide that veterinarians have reported treating for kidney disease or failure after eating the food, said Emilio DeBess, state public health veterinarian.

He surveys the state's veterinarians by e-mail daily and said the death was the only one confirmed as linked to the Menu Foods “cuts and gravy.

DeBess said six cases were in Multnomah County; two each were in Clackamas County, Bend and Corvallis; and one each were in Salem, Eugene and Seaside.

“Zoe's kidneys completely shut down even after doctors gave her medicine to help force her kidneys to work,” said a statement from the emergency animal hospital DoveLewis. “She stopped producing urine and fluid began to build up in her lungs which made it harder and harder for her to breathe.”

DeBess and other veterinarians have been cautious about attributing deaths to the food - kidney failure is common among older cats, for example.

But DoveLewis veterinarians said Zoe's symptoms were so severe they were convinced the cause was a toxin such as that involved in the recall.

The news about the recall this week also brought reports from cat and dog owners about deaths they attributed to food.

“I really believe that this company is just low-balling the numbers and that there is a much larger problem of pets dying from this tainted food,” said Jim Bullock of Bend, owner of Marbles, a 12-year-old cat who died Feb. 27.

His veterinarian said Marbles died of acute kidney failure.

Marbles started eating into a new purchase of 72 packets of wet food, and downed three, Bullock said, before getting so sick he had to be put down.

In New York on Friday, state officials said rat poison was found in pet food blamed for the deaths that sparked the recall.