6-Toed Cats

I have a new kitty who found me when I was on a ride. He'd been abandoned and I took him home--that's a long story, but somebody came along in a car & took him, me, and my bicycle home.

My DH said when I showed up with him--No way, we'll call the humane society on Mon. In my infinite wisdom I knew different. By Monday my DH had named him 6-Toed Pete--Petey for short--and thought we should let him sleep with us. He's adorable and we are total fools over him.

Anybody else have 6-toed cats? I think Mimi does. The cat in her avatar looks like he may have 6 toes. He's a grey tabby with white on his feet which make his feet look even bigger.

My college roomates used to have a cat who had, I kid you not, 7 toes on one front foot, 6 toes on the other front foot, and 5 toes on each hind foot. The vet said he had never seen a cat with so many toes. And because he had so many toes and they kind of curved around the shape of his paws in order to fit on his feet, his claws came out at all different angles. He used to get himself hooked on things like the carpet, the couch, the drapes, etc. We would get home and he would be stuck to things, unable to detach himself without human assistance!

I also used to volunteer at a hospital and took pictures of the newborn babies. I once encountered a newborn with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. At first I just thought he had very wide feet. Then I started counting and realized there were extra toes.

I think cats with extra toes are extra cute! Human babies, maybe not so much.

This is Tiki.....my polydactyl girl. She has extra toes on all four paws; you can see them in the form of "thumbs" on her front feet in this pic. And she can actually pick up stuff using her thumbs.

My best friend growing up had a six-toed cat, with the highly original name of SixToes. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Popoki_Nui

And she can actually pick up stuff using her thumbs.

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That's amazing.

In Key West, at Ernest Hemmingway's home, all the cats have 6 toes. And there are a lot of cats. Let's just say not much spaying and neutering happens there...:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Lise

That's amazing.

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That's disturbing.
A cat with opposable thumbs :0

These cats are also known as Hemmingway cats as alluded by Lise. Some do have problems with getting their claws caught in things and not being able to un-hook. Otherwise it really isn't much of a problem for them.

One of my kitties growing up was named paws because he did have an extra toe. After several rescue from the trees, he learned not to climb trees.

They do have big PAWs.

Smilingcat

I cat sit a neighbor's cat named Steffi - a dainty and dignified 13-year old with BIG six-toed feet. Not sure she's learned to use her "thumbs" yet.

I used to petsit for a polydactyl kitty who was also a manx. She could be quite the pill but lots of fun. Her name was Toey. LOL!

My Dad has a 6 toed, 25# male cat. My DH and I do toenail clippings on him so they don't have to lug him to the vets. He's a lot of cat to fit in a cat carrier:) . He's got 5 toes in the back. His name is "squeaker", he couldn't meow as a kitten. He used to open mouth, attempt to meow, and as soon as all the "air was out" a little squeak would come.

A friend of mine has a 6-toed cat, and he is the BIGGEST cat I have ever seen. I bet he weighs at least 30 lbs. People come to her house just to see her cat. He is a Main Coon rescue named Ricky.

Regular #d toed cats at Hemingway House do get neutered. & some of the 6-toed ones. But they want to make sure the line is continued.

Supposedly Hemingway was given the original 6-toer by a sea captain. He is their ancestor.

Tiki is really pretty. Petey has short hair. I'll have to get a picture of him on this thread. He has 6 toes on all four feet. His hind legs look like he has them on the "wrong feet." He's so much fun. Loves those little tiny mice to play with. He will play fetch with them. We throw the fake mouse and he retrieves it.

Aggie only has a normal complement of toes. It has been years and years since I had a polydactyl; he could grasp things using that thumb.

congrats on your new fur baby

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Originally Posted by SouthernBelle

Regular #d toed cats at Hemingway House do get neutered. & some of the 6-toed ones. But they want to make sure the line is continued.

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Huh! Who knew? :p

Her name was Scrawny Kitty, the only thing that held her lithe little body to the ground was an excessive number of toes on all feet.....a polydactyl torbie and my much missed favorite cat of all time. :(

DH had a 6 toed cat that survived the Oakland fire storm in 90. He was a big black cat. He passed away last year. We now have a 6 toed pixie bob. She looks a like a silver tabby but has black tuffs on her ears and a pink nose. She is cute and a hellon....haven't convinced her that the other kitty is not dinner.

Growing up, all our cats had what we called 'double paws'. Even when we adopted new ones years later, we still opted for the ones with the extra toes. I thought normal pawed cats were funny looking!! :p

Now we have a tiny cat with tiny paws. He's full grown and is barely 8 bls. If he had extra toes, he'd probably fall over all the time!

I had my wedding reception at the Hemingway House in Key West...it was pretty funny to have a couple of rather rambunctious polydactyl cats running around the reception tables hoping that someone might drop a little morsel!

A good friend of mine has a cat that he named Papa (after Hemingway) and Papa has 7 toes on each front foot. It's really pretty cute...looks like he's wearing mittens.

It's a trait that was originally based on inbreeding, unfortunately. Today, however, it's simply passed on from cat to kitten. I love the extra toes...it seems to give the cat a bit of extra personality! I mean, look at these guys!

I have a six toed cat. Her name is mitt and she is awesome. She also picked us, as she was a stray at my hubbies work! We have had her six months and she fits in awesome.:o

We need a picture of this lucky kitty who found such a wonderful home with you.
I have had two polly cat's. One had to have he's nails clipped cause a couple grew in funny. They were both very good cats.

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Originally Posted by ibcycling

I used to petsit for a polydactyl kitty who was also a manx. She could be quite the pill but lots of fun. Her name was Toey. LOL!

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I love Manxes and I love polydactyl- this little gal is my idea of the perfect cat!

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Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama

I love Manxes and I love polydactyl- this little gal is my idea of the perfect cat!

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I have a manx and my gosh they are wonderful kitty's I agree!