Hi everyone. This is something new that I haven't dealt with before and would like opinions. There are several ferals outside that I have been feeding and trapping to get them spayed/neutered. One of the newest ones to show up is a small calico. I'd estimate her to be about 6 months old. She's sort of friendly...meaning that when she hears the door open, she gets excited and runs to me, but then stops about 2 feet away from me. I can't pet her, but if I try to put my hand near her she'll swat at my hand playfully while purring. Based on my prior experience with ferals, I think she's definitely able to be tamed, but it's going to take a little while longer for that to happen. I've been trying to trap her since there numerous unneutered males roaming around (we're trying to take care of them too but the trapping isn't going as quickly as I would like it too - they're too smart to walk into the traps!) and I'd really like to get her spayed before we have to add a litter of kittens to the colony outside. But she is way too smart for the trap and I haven't been able to lure her into it yet even though I've been trying.
When this little girl showed up, I immediately noticed that she had a 6th toe on her right front paw. She's a pretty dark calico, but her right front paw is all white and I thought it was adorable because with the 6th toe, she looks like she's wearing a white mitten. From a distance, this appeared to be her only extra toe. But once I was able to get a little closer to her I noticed that something was off about her left front paw. Since the only way I've been able to "touch" her is by putting my hand close to her and letting her swat it, I can't really get a closer look. But from what I can tell, it looks like she also has an extra toe - possibly two extras on her left front paw too. But they aren't in the right place like the one on her right paw. It looks like she has some kind of lump growing out of the back of her paw and a small stump-like thing on the side of the paw. This paw is all dark brown so it wasn't as noticeable from a distance like her other paw was.
She walks just fine and plays constantly and seems to be having no problems at the moment, but I could have sworn that I read something once about deformed extra toes causing problems and possibly needing amputation. Does anyone know anything about this? I will definitely have a vet look at her when I can, but I can't get close enough to her to pick her up and I can't get her into a trap. I've been going outside and sitting near her while reading a book and just spending time around her in an attempt to get her to trust me more, but I think this is going to be a slow process (faster than some other ferals, but slow in general).
I'm just wondering if this is actually something to be concerned about or if it's just something that I need to keep an eye on. I have other ferals to trap too, but should I get more aggressive about trapping her and put the other ones on hold for the moment while just focusing on her? (most of the ferals hang out in the front yard but she lives in the backyard so I move the traps each night in an attempt to catch anyone who decides to walk into one).
Anyway, if anyone has any experience with this I'm curious to hear it. I know that "normal" looking 6th toes are usually not a problem, but it's the odd growing toes/stumps on her other foot that are worrying me.
When this little girl showed up, I immediately noticed that she had a 6th toe on her right front paw. She's a pretty dark calico, but her right front paw is all white and I thought it was adorable because with the 6th toe, she looks like she's wearing a white mitten. From a distance, this appeared to be her only extra toe. But once I was able to get a little closer to her I noticed that something was off about her left front paw. Since the only way I've been able to "touch" her is by putting my hand close to her and letting her swat it, I can't really get a closer look. But from what I can tell, it looks like she also has an extra toe - possibly two extras on her left front paw too. But they aren't in the right place like the one on her right paw. It looks like she has some kind of lump growing out of the back of her paw and a small stump-like thing on the side of the paw. This paw is all dark brown so it wasn't as noticeable from a distance like her other paw was.
She walks just fine and plays constantly and seems to be having no problems at the moment, but I could have sworn that I read something once about deformed extra toes causing problems and possibly needing amputation. Does anyone know anything about this? I will definitely have a vet look at her when I can, but I can't get close enough to her to pick her up and I can't get her into a trap. I've been going outside and sitting near her while reading a book and just spending time around her in an attempt to get her to trust me more, but I think this is going to be a slow process (faster than some other ferals, but slow in general).
I'm just wondering if this is actually something to be concerned about or if it's just something that I need to keep an eye on. I have other ferals to trap too, but should I get more aggressive about trapping her and put the other ones on hold for the moment while just focusing on her? (most of the ferals hang out in the front yard but she lives in the backyard so I move the traps each night in an attempt to catch anyone who decides to walk into one).
Anyway, if anyone has any experience with this I'm curious to hear it. I know that "normal" looking 6th toes are usually not a problem, but it's the odd growing toes/stumps on her other foot that are worrying me.