How much is too much (weight gain)?

[allmykitties]

The youngest of my cats (now at an estimated age of 1 year, give or take a month) arrived definitely underweight.  If you look at that body condition chart, she wasn't quite to emaciated, but you could count the bones in her spine and ribs when you pet her (when she let that happen).  She gained 0.8 lbs in three weeks (but also was cured of diarrhea and started getting food on a regular basis).

Is there a good rule of thumb for rate of weight gain for a cat that started out as severely underweight due to lack of food (as opposed to other disease)? 

 

[margd]

I am not aware of a rule of thumb for weight gain, unlike for weight loss.  Usually it's recommended that severely underweight cats be fed as much as they want.  You can probably get some idea from the following though:  The average cat needs 200- 250 calories of food per day.  If you are worried about your kitty gaining too much weight too quickly, you could restrict your cat's calorie intake to slightly more than the 200 - 250 calorie figure.

It sounds like your kitty is doing very well, now that she is under your care!