Thursday 12 July 2012

Polydactyl Cats

Hi Everyone,



On the 6th of July my mum and I went to the pet shop on our way to new world and we saw the cutest kitten ever (Oliver). While we were  looking at him he started to play with my finger and we noticed his little extra toes. The next day we we went back and brought little Ollie home. At first we had some trouble naming him but then we settled on Oliver Twist because in Oliver Twist Oliver says "please sir, can I have some more" and Oliver's meow sounds like "more". Cats with extra toes are called Polydactyl cats.

Oliver has 6  toes on his  front feet and 5 toes on his back feet. An ordinary cat , has 5 toes on the front and 4 on the back. Polydactyl cats can sometimes have extra toes only on the front feet, it is even more unusual for them to have extra toes on the front and the back.

Polydactyl cats first appeared in the U.S, England, Asia and Nova Scotia. Because of the unusual feet they were associated with witch craft, so they were  killed. As people got used to Polydactyl cats they were believed to bring good luck. Sailors would take them on their ships to bring them luck and they were excellent hunters and mouse catchers.

Why do Polydactyl cats have more toes than ordinary cats? Polydactyl cats have a mutated gene. Or are they just more evolved? Some polydactyl cats can use their extra digits like we use our thumbs.

What is the highest number of toes a polydactyl cat has ever had? A cat called Jake holds the record with 28 toes- but not all on one foot!

If you have any questions please comment and I will try and find the answer!!!


Zzzzzzzzzzzzz *snore* *snore* *snore* 

Maddy :)