Skinny kitty. How long since it ate?

Factual Questions
1

I found an emaciated cat today near my home and brought it to my local shelter. It was friendly and didn’t look too bad except that its backbone and ribs were very sharp and its sides sunken in.

Since it had a (untagged) collar, I’m thinking it was an escaped pet. But how long would it take for a smallish cat to get to that condition? How long might it have been out without food? If it caught worms, would it lose weight even faster?

2

Apart from not having enough to eat, severe diarrhea can bring a cat down in a mtter of a few days, there are other illnessess that can cause a cat to lose weight over a much longer period of time, where it has a diet that would be normal and adequate.

It really does depend upon the health of the cat.

3

Skinny kitty video and pix