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| In the kitchen, waiting to be fed by his mommy; Cynthia♥ |
We have this cat, well actually we have two cats and three dogs! But we have this cat and his name is Mr. T... He is a Polydactyly ;) lol... What in the world is a polydactyly? I will give you the online Wikipedia's definition of these cats:
A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly), a type of cat body type genetic mutation that causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Nicknames for polydactyl cats include "boxing cats", "mitten cats", "mitten-foot cats", "snowshoe cats", "thumb cats", "six-fingered cats", "Cardi-cats", "Hemingway cats", and "double-pawed cats."
Our neighbors know him as 'Big Foot' and love him to pieces. He roams our neighborhood searching for food; squirrels, birds, and rats; usually bring them home as gifts. We do feed him here at home and even give him tuna treats ~ straight from the can. When he goes on a hunt, he can be gone for a few days... Why he is this way, I could never tell you. He is domesticated and has never really been in the wild having had him since he was born. My niece, Martha, also had a polydactyly (Mr. T's mother) her cat had an extra toe on all four paws, whereas Mr. T was born with an extra toe only on his front paws. He was the only cat she birthed (which was strange in itself) no litter, just Mr. T. They named him solo and he was almost as big as his mother. They had to get rid of him so we decided to take him (about 10 or 11 years ago).
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| In Cynthia's bed snuggling down to a long nap |
He is Cynthia's 'babe' and completely hers, Mr. T knows Cynthia is HIS pet, lol! They are inseparable. He sleeps in her bed, when he is not in ours. She just has to call to him and he will follow her all over the house. She is so attached to this animal that I'm afraid she is going to be heart-broken if and when he is no longer with us; not knowing how long cats live, I don't know if that will be sooner or later. She talks to him and he talks (meows) back to her. They definitely have some kind of special bond that I pray, for her sake, he can live forever, lol.
One time she fed Mr. T a chicken bone and he began to gag and choke. He began to claw at himself because he couldn't breathe or get it out; Cynthia was screaming and crying at her father to help Mr. T... (Of course she is daddy's girl, and he'd risk anything for her) so, growling and many scratches later, he relieved Mr. T of the bone. Today, don't let Cynthia hear or see you offer Mr. T a bone she will go ballistic on you, lol. She is now very protective of him.
Another time he was gone on one of his hunting expeditions longer that usual. When he finally made it home we found him with one paw skinned up to the elbow or where their legs bend. We believe he was caught in a trap and pulled his paw out skinning himself as he escaped. Rushing him to the vet, they were able to roll his skin down and reattach it; it wasn't ripped or torn just rolled up. A very lucky cat.
Not to mention all the times he'd come home with scratches on his face or cuts on his body.
If cats have 9 lives he is more than likely down to 4/5 left.
He is very proud and rules the roost. Even our dogs; yellow lab, Blue Nose Pit and a mutt, are extremely afraid of him. When he walks into the living area they will go and find a place furthest away from him so they are not in reach of his paws or extended claws. We have very narrow hall ways and if he is sitting right in the middle they will not come down or out of the hall way because there is not enough room to go around him.
Yes, we always say Mr. T has an attitude because he has extra toes. He is Superior to his fellow animal family (Lil' Boy, Sassy, Francis, and Rosie) and the neighborhood pets and animals. He is not even afraid to challenge a dog walking on a leash in front of our house or a loose dog in the yard; making himself extremely fluffy and larger than life. *sigh* sweet Mr. T... actually he is, but I guess you can say he is overly confident. One thing that we love about Mr. T ~ he fetches. My husband will crumple up a sheet of paper into a loose ball and throw it across the room he will run and play with it; batting it around, then bite into it and bring it back. Starting a new game of throwing and fetching... It's actually hilarious, but he does do it...
We love Mr. T and will never have another like him. He is close to all of us and has implanted those big feet into our hearts. But especially Cynthia's... He will forever be her "Mr. T"
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| A closer look at those mitten paws |
