Polydactyl Cats Problems

Polydactyl cats have no special problems as a result of having extra toes except that the claws on the extra toes might get less wear and as a result they may grow into the paw pad. A regular check and trim will resolve this minor problem. Polydactylism is caused by a genetic mutation. Sometimes genetic mutations that affect a part of the cat's anatomy can affect other parts of the body and cause health problems. That is not the case with polydactylism.

Associated pages:

• Polydactyl Cat Record Holders
• Polydactyl Cats

Cats with Extra Toes

Cats with extra toes are called "polydactyl cats". "Poly" means more than one or many. The origin of this prefix is the Ancient Greek word "polus" meaning many. While "daktulos" is the origin of "dactyl", which means a finger or a toe. I guess that is obvious but I think it is worth spelling out. For veterinarians, polydactyl cats are considered as cats with an inherited orthopedic disease. The extra toes are a congenital deformity. This sounds bad but we see polydactylism as something interesting as there are no associated health problems and it is quite common in domestic cats. People occasionally have the same condition.

Polydactyl cat - Photo by panic switch 13

The normal number of toes for a cat is: 5 on the forepaws and 4 on the hind paws. Extra toes normally occur on the front paws but the defect can affect both rear and front paws.

Although a benign condition the extra toes might not get the usual amount of usage and wear leading to the claws growing into the pads. The claws should be checked and trimmed if necessary. Cat breeders consider polydactylism a defect and don't breed from a polydactyl cat unless they are breeding polydactyl cats. Is this sensible?

Associated pages: Tootsie a polydactyl Maine Coon and American Polydactyl Cat (Hemingway cats).

Clipper Cats

The name of this cat breed is based on the fast sailing ships of the 19th Century.  The word "clipper" derives from the word "clip" meaning fast. It is believed that these ships arrived in New Zealand bringing on board ships cats that were polydactyl cats. I say, New Zealand because this cat breed is registered exclusively in a New Zealand cat registry or association. I am yet to find out which one. It is not the New Zealand Cat Fancy Inc.

Polydactyl cats, as you might know, are cats with a greater number of toes than normal due to a genetic mutation. The mutation does not affect the health of the cat (some mutations do, incidentally).

Polydactyl Paw - Wikipedia Commons file (modified). Author: Averette

It is also believed that sailors chose polydactyl cats on the basis that the extra toes and broad paws made them better on deck! In other words the extra toes stabilised them when walking along decks looking for mice and rats. That, however was only part of their attraction to sailors.

It was also thought that they were lucky and were good climbers and hunters. I think every one of these ideas is false bar one! The extra toes do seem to give the cat greater dexterity and this leads to the cat using its toes and claws in a polydactyl cat-like way meaning almost like the finger of a hand. This picture of Tootsie a polydactyl Maine Coon bears that out.

Tootsie, polydactyl Maine Coon. Photo: by valleygirl_tka

This theory that polydactyl cats were often chosen as ships cats is supported in practice by the fact (is it fact?) that there are or were a higher percentage of polydactyl cats at ports. I am thinking of the east coast of America and places such as Nova Scotia and Halifax in Canada.

I am not sure that any of this is true but it sounds plausible. I don't know of studies that bear this out, however.

Some of the descendants of these original clipper cats are registered cats but are they purebred cats? It appears that anyone with a polydactyl cat can apply for registration, "on the open register as a Clippercat, if it fulfills very specific guidelines" (src: Catzinc.com). This implies that random bred cats can be registered. This seems to be the same as the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) classification of "Household Pets" or moggies. There are some fabulous moggie show cats.

The number of toes on a Clipper cat varies and this is recorded on registration. It also appears that there is a limit on the number of toes allowed under the breed standard (src: Catzinc.com). I don't understand that because it it not relevant to health and it only affects appearance in a minor way. The "structure of the feet" is also restricted to the breed standard guidelines. I can understand that as some polydacytl feet look misshapen. Personally though I like these huge, lumpy polydactyl feet.

As to breeding, this cat is only bred to New Zealand long and shorthaired cats of a type laid down in the breed standard and not to other breeds accepted for championship status in the NZ cat fancy, as I understand it (as at Feb 20011 - things change sometimes).

I have not shown any photographs of Clipper cats because I don't have permission but they look like your random bred cat or mixed breed cat with paws that are larger than normal and with those extra toes! All colors and patterns are acceptable it seems.
 
Cattery breeding Polydactyl Clipper Cats: MISTLETOES CATTERY



From Clipper Cats to Home Page

Polydactyl Maine Coon Cat Tootsie

This is Tootsie, a polydactyl Maine Coon cat that lives with an American women who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Her Flickr name is valleygirl_tka

I know Valley Girl as she is a work colleague of mine, although I have never met her. She has a website called, teh kitteh antidote/anecdote. Now that is a very fancy name for a website. It took me a little while to realise that it is a play on words, mispelled words (notice I spelled "spelled" correctly!). It is also a play on mistyped words and mixed up words. Great name for a website and the title does not start with a capital letter just to add a bit of spice. Oh, I almost forgot, Valley Girl's (VG for short) website is a subdomain of my maine (mispelled) site called, Pictures of cats.org or PoC for short. A subdomain is a domain that is separate from but part of the main domain. It is a separate website but included in statistical reports such as for Alexa traffic reports. Well I think Alexa treats it as part of PoC but there is some discussion about that.

Now what about the cat and the photo? Well, the polydactyl paw looks like a hand with a thumb! And it is about to grab the handle part of a cat toy. How many cats prefer the wrong end of a cat toy? How many cats actually sleep on that cosy bed you bought him or her? I find that if I buy something for my cat she or he doesn't use it! Humans and cats have different ideas about possessions. Cats don't recognise the concept of possessions.

Tootsie is a grey cat. In fact, to me she looks like a grey tabby smoke (the smoke effect is caused by the inhibitor gene). I am guessing wildly but I think the tabby gene, the agouti gene, the dilute gene and the smoke gene are at play all at once. And of course we have the genetic mutation that produces the additional toes. Wow, there is a lot going on. Now, I could be wrong about the genes!

Polydactylism is not a genetic mutation that carries health problems as is the case with some mutations such as the short tailed Manx or the floppy eared Scottish Fold.

Ernest Hemingway kept polydactyl cats in Florida. They are still there and they are called Hemingway cats or American Polydactyl cats. This is not a breed of cat but that is a disputed point I think. Someone might like to leave a comment on that as it might clear up this point.

See Polydactyl cats for more.



From Polydactyl Maine Coon Cat Tootsie to Home Page

American Polydactyl cat

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