I took my 18 week old kitten on vacation with me for a week because I was worried about leaving her at home alone with limited supervision with my other three cats. It was a 12 hour drive. We gave her a sedative- didn't work. She was pretty calm for most of the drive. Even though she had access to a litter box she never used it. She ate some cat treats but didn't drink any water. At the place we stayed she stayed in our bedroom and we let her out a few times each day to roam the house when we were there. She slept on my pillow every night and ate more food than usual. I feed her those small cans of fancy feast and she was eating up to three cans a day. I didn't pay attention to how much water she drank.

The trip home was the same as the trip down- she didn't use the litter box and only cried for about the first hour of the trip as she wanted out of her cage. After that she was content to sleep. We arrived home on Saturday night to find our house sitter (my fiance's sister) had trashed our house and smoked in it all week. So we spent all day Sunday cleaning. This may have upset my kitten as she was adjusting to seeing her "brother and sisters" again and then had to deal with all the activity. She seemed clingy but nothing else unusual.

On Wednesday I noticed she wasn't playing with the other cats as much as usual (she normally terrorizes them) But she was still eating (hard to tell how much with three other cats) Thursday night she was hiding under our couch which is unusual so I started keeping an eye on her. She was still eating. Friday I was at work most of the day and went out at night but I did see her eat once that day (when I was home) On saturday she didn't eat more than a few bites. Just seemed totally uninterested in her food. She was still playing like normal though. (but not with the other cats just by herself)

Saturday night she had diarhea and vomitted twice. She would cry right before she was about to vomit. A loud cry. This was late Saturday night. I confined her to our bedroom that night so I could keep an eye on her. She wanted nothing to eat. But she did drink a lot of water. On sunday I called the emergency vet and took her in. I wanted to be safe than sorry. She was still playing just not eating at all. She would try to cover up any food we tried to give her.

The vet examined her and pushed on her belly and she didn't protest at all. When he tried to weigh her she ran halfway across the office and hid. He said she was quite active and that was a good sign. He checked her gums (pink) and told us that she was probably dehydrated and he gave her iv fluids. He also gave us antibiotics. We took her home and she still refused to eat but she played most of the day.

Monday I called the vet with an update (she only ate two pieces of dry cat food and licked some gravy off a can of her food)and he told me to bring her back in. THey did a blood test and he said her red blood count was up and this indicated dehydration. He wanted to keep her overnight and give her an iv all night but I didn't want to leave her (they close at 6pm and the animals are only checked on once after that until they open at 7am. So I was afraid to leave her as my parents had a 4 yr old cocker spaniel that had a seizure and they left him at the vet overnight and he died during the night so I have an irrational fear of leaving my babies there overnight.

Plus she was active and playing (just not interested in food at all) so I didn't think she was in immediate danger. But the vet felt since she only weighs 4 lbs that dehydration would affect her more severely than an older cat. He gave her more iv fluids before I took her home. When we got home I tried to feed her everything I could think of. She would start purring when she heard the cat food can open but then just walk away. Around 10:30 Monday night she seemed to get her appetite back. She ate about 16 pieces of dry food and a few mouthfuls of her soft food. Ever since then she's been seeking out food (Instead of me shoving the plate in front of her) and eating anything she comes across ( canned food, dry food, her cat treats).

The vet is pleased that she's eating again and has told me he doesn't need to see her again (he is out of the office for a week). I'm glad that she seems to be back to her old self but concerned that this could be the sign of a serious health problem. (I was worried about feline leukemia even though she's been tested and vacinated, she was only 8 weeks when she was tested and the vet said she may have been too young to test).

What are some of the things that might cause a cat or kitten to stop eating, become dehydrated and have diarhea and vomiting? They tested her stool for parasites and found none. Any ideas?