We need to identify the toxic substances in plants which makes them poisonous to cats

WHY, WHY, WHY are domestic cats injured by many plants that are toxic to cats when they chew on them??? Domestic cats like to chew on vegetation as we know. Their favourite plant is grass (click for reasons). We don't know how many domestic cats are injured by plants but they damage the kidneys resulting in kidney failure and death. The reason why I have overly emphasised "why" is because I want Google's search engine to find this article rather than simply treat this article as another one describing the toxicity of plants to cats. We don't want that. We want to know about the chemical in the plants which hurts cats.

Lily Pollen Kills Cats. Photo by wlcutler. Why? We don't know.

Regarding lilies Wikipedia states:

"The true mechanism of toxicity is undetermined, but it involves damage to the renal tubular epithelium...which can cause acute renal failure."

And, yes, I've been searching on the Internet for the reasons why many plants are toxic to cats without success. The most toxic of plants are lilies. And there are many species of lily. Not all of them, incidentally, are toxic to cats but cat owners would be wise to never have lilies in their home of any species. They are that toxic. But we do not know the toxic substance in lilies that injures cats' kidneys. It has not been identified apparently. If it has been identified I can't find the information.

I find this state of affairs strange, to be honest. If we knew the substances that can kill cats in lilies and other plants, we might be able to design an antidote which cancels that substance out providing an immediate and rapid cure. 

Perhaps the scientists are disinterested. Perhaps this is because when a cat dies "they are only cats". And cats are 'only cats' because there are too many of them on the planet, many of which are unwanted and without homes. That state of affairs has a knock-on effect on the mentality of people and their attitude towards domestic and stray cats.

You'll find millions of pages on the toxicity of lilies to domestic cats. But you won't find WHY. Please, can we have some information about this!

Think of the massive advantages it would bring to cat owners if they were able to have, in their home, a spot-on treatment which saves the life of their cat because they had chewed on a toxic plant. Wouldn't that be a commercial success? An antidote to toxicity in plants for the domestic cat? Surely that would be a commercial success.