Central Virginia pets: Some cats come with a little something extra

Normally, cats have five toes on each front paw and four each rear one. Unique felines born with more are known as polydactyl.

The Guinness Book of World Records has recorded an individual with grand total of 28 toes. Might these big-mitted kitties be the next phase in feline evolution as some of the fancy think? It is an understandable assumption, considering how polydactyl cats can manipulate objects with almost human dexterity, opening boxes and removing the fitted lids from cans.

Polydactyl (from the Greek: poly, meaning many, and daktulos, meaning digits) cats are known by various names — Boston cats, mitten cats, six-finger cats, Hemingway cats. It is said that author Ernest Hemmingway was given a six-toed cat that he allowed to free-range and to breed with the local ones on the Florida island where the writer lived. Boston, Mass., also, boasts a high rate of the big-pawed cats. It seems that sailors on ships during colonial times thought the cats were lucky and superior rodent killers and, of course, when these vessels made port in the New England city, some of the mousers hopped ship and mingled with existing cat communities.

Polydactyl cats are found all over the world. New Zealand cat fanciers are developing a breed called Clipper cats, descended from the polydactyls carried on Clipper Ships between 1850 and 1900. In the U.S., we have American Polydactyl Cats with their own registry (Natural American Polydactyl Association). Purebred examples from established breeds can even compete in Cat Fanciers Association cat shows but aren’t eligible to win certificates or first prizes.

Though extra toes can be found in any purebred variety, there is a higher polydactyl occurrence in certain breeds such as PixieBobs (large spotted/tiger bob-tails), Maine Coons, and Impians (curl-eared, spotted and at least half white). Photographs have documented the mutation in wild leopards, and it has been reported anecdotally in tigers. Many other animal species are affected by the peculiarity, including us humans. Charles Darwin wrote about polydactyl cats as early as the 1850s in his book, “The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication.”

One to three extra digits are commonly found on the front paws of the mittened cats, and some may have extra toes on their back paws. It’s rare, however, for a cat to be polydactyl on the back paws only. Problems associated with the condition are minimal — the extra toenails overgrowing or catching on rugs. Twisty mutation is a less common but serious extreme of polydactylism that can be harmful. This is a genetic defect that causes underdevelopment or absence of the radius, a major bone of the foreleg. A cat with a thumb exhibiting an extra joint and three bones is likely to carry the genetic flaw, and it should never be bred as this could likely result in producing irreparable twisty kittens.

Visit the Almost Home Adoption Center (SPCA) on Stagebridge Road, just off U.S. 29, in Nelson County to see, foster, or adopt one of their unique polydactyl wards: Mia, who is a beautiful blue/cream tortoiseshell, and Ralph, whose distinctive agouti type coat is as indescribable as is his fearless and affectionate temperament. Mirabella is a volunteer at Almost Home.