winged kitties :O

(mods please feel free to move this, as i'm not a breeder or anything... but i thought it might belong in here since this is for discussion forum for cat genetics as well)

has anyone here heard of a condition on cats (some dogs, too) called cutaneous anthesia?

it's a kind of condition where the skin is EXTREMELY elastic and delicate. it's an inherited condition, and the poor kitties who have this condition run the risk of tearing their skin, sometimes causing large wounds, very often. the "wings" are caused by loose skin, which is covered over fur, and form little "wings".

some, very rare cases, winged kitties come from limb deformalities or just matted fur. if it's matted fur, eventually the "wings" will shed off without hurting the kitty.

http://www.messybeast.com/winged-cats.htm

the only thing i hope people (not here on this forum, i mean in general) will not do is start to breed these cats. :/ the idea of having a cat with "wings" is endearing, but it makes the cat lead a harder life. no rough playtime, scratching, rubbing against things...

anyway, yeah. my roommate is a biology major, and she was studying on this a bit and thought it was interesting enough to tell me. and so i pass it onto here.

I've seen this before but never thought it was real. The photos are never very good or clear.

However, it does remind me of one of my favorite kitty books!
Mewingham Manor

I've read about it on messybeast too. The idea of a cat with wings totally freaks me out.

I had read some about this. The skin tears easily, but not so badly that they can't do anything. The problem is really when they get a cut, they need extra stitches because often the first set causes the skin to tear more. After that they heal normally. There are ppl like that too, in circuses you might see a dude grab a handful of his skin and pull it out six inches without apparent pain. It is ne of those strange anomalies.

Joecool