Hemingway Kitties!!

hyper piper

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We had a cat that used to hang around our backyard that was a Polydactyl. He was tame so I always assumed he was someone else's outside cat. But we used to feed him and play with him every now and then.

We called him Thumbs.
 

white cat lover

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Oh I recall darling Priscilla. She was a shelter kitty. She used those wonderful 4 paw polydactyl feet to rip the holy shreds out of people!


I've never had a poly myself, but have come across many polys in the humane society here where I volunteer.
 

fifi1puss

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My Fiona is polydactyl. She can catch a toy or ball in mid air using her extra toes to form a catchers mitt. It is too cool. Haven't been able to catch it in a photo or video....some day!
 

eliot'smom

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I was in Key West not too long ago, and I toured Hemingway's house there---they have multiple cats on the grounds that are the direct descendants of his original six-toed cats. There has been sort of a flap down there due to the fact that some people are trying to get the cats removed from the property, since it is a museum and not a private residence anymore. Those cats had the life---a bunch of them lying around a koi pool in the sun, in sunny Key West!
 

zenoah

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I found out today at the shelter that we have 2 poly cats. One of which is named Hank, and I made up a song about him.

Hank da poly cat!
Hank da poly cat!


Im still working on it...
 

nekochan

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We do have a polydactyl kitten, she's a Maine Coon though so I don't know if she would count as a 'Hemingway cat' since traditionally those are "mixed breeds."
She has 'mitten paws' in the front (6 toes, the extra one looks like a thumb) and an extra toe on each back foot like a dewclaw. She's really good at catching things with her front paws even though she's still a young kitten!

Here's a photo of her where you can kinda see her paws:





And just for fun here's a cute image I found online:

 

tigerlily0

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I think not everyone has heard the term "Hemingway Cat", but might know it more as "double-pawed" or "polydactyl". I've never had one myself. I believe it is a dominant trait, isn't it?
 

bab-ush-niik

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Yes, it is a dominant trait. There's two forms of it though. The "mitten" form adds toes on the thumb side, and is generally safe. The "hamburger" form adds toes on the pinky side, and is associated with severe disfigurements. It's apparently a strange gene anyway. I read something about how the mitten form isn't so much "cat has five toes" as it is "add a toe!" Apparently two five-toed cats can have six-toed kittens.

Puppy is a poly. He was named so because he's a huge, tall cat with big feet. My mom thought he was a stray dog that ran into the yard.
He's got 7 toes on one paw, 6 on the other. His back paws are normal.

Thankfully, he's rather stupid, so his opposable thumbs aren't too dangerous. However, he has figured out how to pick up his food and his favorite toys by clasping them between paw and thumb and then bring them up to his mouth. No bending over to pick up a toy with his mouth anymore.
 

footersownsme

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my little Kricket is a polydactal. My neighbors dog brought her home at like 4 days old and her extra toes were very noticeable. Now at 2 yrs old and having dark front paws its a lil harder to tell that there are extra toes under all that hair. Here are some pics of when she was younger. This first one was the 2nd day i had her....look at those adorable extra thumbs.



if you look you can see them in this one....its hard to get pictures of her and her toes...she knows the camera.



she does know how to use her big feet to grab onto my arm and pull it, she also likes to dip her paw in the water and cup water sometimes, and catch is another one she is good at.....it pays to have extra toes.
I
MY POLYDACTAL!
 

cathaus

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I clicked yes, but that's because I have a Hemmie in my heart XD I always wanted one but, as we already have a house of 4 it will be quite some time before that ever happens!
 
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