Polydactyl owners

Do your cats get dirt and gunk in the space between their "normal" toes and their "extra" toes? Puppy seems to get his fur all matted up and gunky in that area. I don't think he can clean it well. His control over those toes is limited; he can contract them in but can't splay them out. So he can't seperate them and clean that area well.

I've had to take small scissors to that area every couple months. Anyone else have this problem? How have you been cleaning there?

One of Scratch's littermates was a polydactyl, and so was his mother. They never had trouble extending the paws, claws and all that, and cleaning in between the toes, even the extra ones. How many extra toes does your baby have?

He's got a lot. I'm not sure how other polys are, but Puppy has a second pad, and the extra toes come off the second pad. He's got 2.5 extra on one side and 1.5 extra on the other. The .5 toes are like partial toes; you can feel flesh but it's not a complete toe. I'm not sure if this is a botched declaw or if he was just born this way.

Basically, it's like he has 1 and a half feet on leg. The extra pad and extra toes kinda stick out towards the inside (http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...y/IMG_1743.jpg)
He can only contract that extra pad and toes, he can't extend and seperate them the way he does with his regular toes.

Thats so interesting, I've never seen that before.

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow an post it for you. Dirty toes and all.

Sounds like the partial claws might be some kind of dewclaw. Although gunk in between the toes will happen sometimes ya know....sometimes I would have to clean in between toes on some of my cats if they stepped in something sticky (like tree sap) and then went in the litter box. LOL
What has your vet said about it?

I have heard that the Arm & Hammer kitty litter sticks less than regular litter. I guess the baking soda makes it less likely to get stuck in the fur. (Never tried it myself, though.)

Originally Posted by lotsocats

I have heard that the Arm & Hammer kitty litter sticks less than regular litter. I guess the baking soda makes it less likely to get stuck in the fur. (Never tried it myself, though.)

Click to expand...

I just throw a tad bit of baking soda in teh litterbox which will also do the trick.