While browsing through the stuff.co.nz site, I came across the story of Mr. Mittens – a cat from Christchurch, New Zealand that has 6 digits on all four paws.
Go on, I know you want to count them:
His owner, Christchurch man Tom Donaldson, was working in Coalgate [sic] when a cat that had befriended him gave birth to two kittens in the bush at the back of the house he was renovating.
“I decided to turn them both into city cats, so I brought them home,” he said.
The normal-pawed kitten is called Ed, after Sir Edmund Hillary, because he is adventurous.
The other kitten was named Mr Mittens after his large thumb-like extra digit. “He walks with a slight swagger but that’s his only oddity; he’s like a normal cat in every other way.”
Polydactyl means simply to have more than the normal number of digits. Normal cats have four toes and one ‘thumb’ (or declaw) on each front paw, and four toes on each hind paw. Polydactyl cats can have as many as seven digits on their paws — most commonly on the front paws only.
Polydactyly is a a genetically inherited abnormality that occurs in the fetus. It is not life threatening and usually not even debilitating to a cat, although it can take them a little longer to learn how to walk or climb. In some cases it gives them more dexterity – some cats can open latches or catch objects with a single paw thanks to their extra ‘thumbs’.
savvycat x
