sick kitty, just out of the blue!

Question
On Friday afternoon while walking in the driveway, my 8 year old daughter and I looked back to find an adorable little kitty (no more than 6 months old I believe) following is! She followed us back to the house and gave her some dry IAMS and a bowl of water. (we have 2 other cats, one being and indoor/outdoor cat and the other is strictly indoor and is our rescue from about 2 years ago.) well of course the follower we have now named "pumpkin" scarfed down the food so we gave her a little more and cut her off cause we didn't want her getting sick. She was doing great! Always wanted to snuggle and nuzzle her head in your neck and just purred like a motor boat! I told my daughter that if she was still around by Monday that we would run her up to our vet to have her checked out and "shot" with all of the necessary vaccines just to be safe because my daughter has been handeling her and we have other cats. Well we bought Pumpkin a bed and a baby blanket and got her all set up with a heat lamp (high enough so we wouldn't have to worry about anything catching fire and also with a wire cover so no burns would be an issue)well she was doing great! She slept in the bed Friday and Saturday night and I checked on her through out the night and she was just happy as could be! Well this morning when I woke up (now Sunday) she was no where to be found! I called her, shook the catfood bag walked around shaking the bag AND calling her and NO PUMPKIN! I figured she found her way back home and that maybe she was locked out of her own house for the weekend since she kept trying to get in my house. Well we pouted and wished her well and went on about our day. Well around 2 this afternoon we walked up to check the mail and low and behold, there's PUMPKIN! As we were walking back I was holding her and she was just dead weight! We came to a spot in the driveway where there was a huge mound of vomit! I knew it was hers because we had been keeping our other cat inside until Pumpkin got a clean bill of health and shots, and I knew it was cat vomit because some pieces were still in tact. When we got back home, I laid her in her bed and covered her up and she didn't move for about 4 or 5 hours. Sometimes she didn't even lift her head when we walked by. I knew something was up so I planned to take her to the vet FIRST thing in the AM after I dropped my daughter off at school. Well I left for the grocery store around 6 or so and as I'm shopping I get a text message picture sent from my daughter of  a watery pile of vomit with a tinge of blood to it! I left the basket and everything there at the store and raced home and poor Pumpkin is no where to be found! My husband said that they walked up the driveway and all over our 7 acres of land and they couldn't find her. I have her blanket washed and the heat lamp on just in case she comes back but something tells me she's not going to be. What on earth could make her go from being healthy and happy and loving life, to sick lethargic throwing up and disappearing in a matter of 12 hours? The thought never crossed my mind to follow her to check her stool so I'm at a loss. We showered immediately and I washed our clothes and lyesoled door knobs light switches and pretty much every thing else I could think of. I have the kennel ready and waiting just in case she comes back because no matter if she has an actual owner or not, she needs medical attention. Hopefully her owner has realized this and has taken her to the kitty ER. What do you think is the cause for all of this?

Answer
Kristi,

I'm sorry about your poor Pumpkin, but this is a question that is best asked of your vet.

My best guess from your description is that she ate something poisonous. Maybe a mouse that ate mouse poison, food somewhere that was recalled, or any number of things.

Please let me know if you found her. I'm very much hoping that you did and were able to get her some care.

Carol