Hemingway Cats

Holly · #1 04-26-2002, 02:18 PM

Does anyone have a hemingway cat? (The kind with 6 toes on EACH foot) Alot of people have never even heard of them. I was just wondering because I have hardly met anyone who has a hemingway, and even fewer who know about them. Here is a picture of my hemingway..

patnjackmom · #2 04-26-2002, 02:47 PM

AWWW!

Holly · #3 04-26-2002, 04:05 PM

yep tor that is what i mean. they are called hemingways though. if you have the chance to get to keywest, thats where they are from. there are the ones that are like, deformed, but these ones are actual breeds that hemingway had. those cats are the "key west cats" my sister went to key west last fall and said they were everywhere.

***Dena*** · #4 04-26-2002, 05:09 PM

I just recently helped rescue one. We think she might also be part rag doll. Her paws are huge! The new owner calls her Mr. Thumbs

***Dena*** · #5 04-29-2002, 01:18 AM

I know them as Hemingway Polydactyls

I prefer the "cats with thumbs".

**Scarlette** · #6 05-01-2002, 02:29 PM

I had a cat that had 8 toes on his front paws and his back paws had 5 each.

#7 05-01-2002, 02:31 PM

I have never seen one around here, but when I spent time in Toronto, almost every cat i eve saw was like that...

#8 05-01-2002, 02:33 PM

I believe the term polydactyl applies to humans with extra digits as well...

capnsweets · #9 06-01-2002, 11:57 PM

we used to have a cat with a thumb as well. We got it as a kitten, but it was an "outside cat" and one day disappeared. Poor Cuddles.

thedebs · #10 06-16-2006, 08:39 AM

Yes I have two hemingway cats, one is a female and has not been fixed yet, she got pregnant last year and had a solid black male hemingway, it turns out the gene is only passed on by the females. He has also not been nuetered yet because at 9 months has still not had his testicles decend. both cats have more the 6 toes on each foot, the female has one more toe on each back foot, than her son. So your not alone, but I would let them both go to a good home if I could find one, whats crazy is the male is very itellegent and talkative, but I fear his being a black cat would bring him into danger, many silly superstitious people may hurt him.
thedebs

thedebs · #11 06-16-2006, 08:40 AM

Oh and they look like mittens, these cats are also called mitten cats.

thedebs · #12 07-20-2007, 03:33 PM

Well here's an update on our two polydactyls. Twitch the female, who had only 1 polydactyl black male kitten(named Mew-Mew) has now been fixed and has therefore stopped marking our home.

Her son who is an awesome mitten cat, he really looks like he's walking on his hands, has also been fixed. They are trying to get along, its amazing to think she once nursed him cause she hissed at him everyday since she stopped. Lately I catch her licking him and deferring dominance to him. I hope by winter they can get to care a little less about who has my attention, seems they are all a little jealous of each other. We have an older tabby and callico mix, and he's 10 and not happy with the new additions over the last two or three years. But he's adjustng, and gosh it takes a long time.

So we're doing good, extra toes and all, oh and I had to have some extra claws removed from my female polydactyl, she had 7 toes on each front foot, but way more claws, sorta hanging on loose skin inbetween her pads.

The vet here was amazed, they said they didn't here of that much around these parts, which is just CT for petes sake, but they were more suprised to know I had more than one! lol
debs

Debs and her mitten cats