Thelma and Louise have Eyelid Agenesis (the same condition our sweet True Bloods had last year) and Forgotten Felines needs to raise funds for surgery. Pass the word?
Danielle sent me an email the other day, and I checked to be sure it was okay to share it (and the pictures she sent) with y’all.
I don’t know of anyone else with as much kitty experience as you so I was wondering if you (or your readers) have a clue about this. We adopted our newest kitten in July and she is now approximately 8 months old, though there was confusion because she’s very small. She’s got a bunch of extra toes but it’s not like other double-pawed cats I’ve seen because they are small and shoved in between her other toes, no more than two extras a foot. Her nails on these toes are a normal length. When the vet checked her out, he said that he might recommend declawing if they get in the way but so far she seems ok. The thing that’s weirding me out if that often, even when she’s resting, the claws on her back feet stay out, and they seem to be coming/staying WAY out, like I’ve never seen so much nail on a cat before. Maybe she just hasn’t learned how to properly retract them and it’s a kitten thing? I’m just worried that this might be an example of her creepy feet functioning abnormally. (One of the nubs on her back foot specifically doesn’t seem to have a lot of tissue connecting it to the rest of her foot and it like…dangles back and forth when you play with it.) So far, with frequent trimming, the toes haven’t been getting in the way of any of her activities, and she never seems to be in pain. But she never has this problem retracting her front nails.
Sorry that this is such a long question all about my cat’s toes. I wouldn’t feel right sending this to any other person, because it is so bizarre, but I have no problem emailing you! Weird? And I attached a picture, the best one I could get of the frankenfeet.
I told Danielle that I haven’t seen anything like that before (but how CUTE are those little paws!) – how about y’all? Ever seen anything like this before? (I suggested that perhaps the kitten was a twin and she ABSORBED her twin and perhaps will eventually grow an ear out of her back or something cool like that, but I was kidding. Even though that would be COOL.)
Scenes from around Crooked Acres.
I knew it’d only be a matter of time before Jake had company in his bed atop the kitchen. I got home from running errands to find that Rhyme had made himself at home. The Bookworms do love them some Jake.
The back forty and some scary clouds.
I love seeing the moon during the day, for some reason.
Da pig (I don’t know where the other one was – probably sleeping off a sugar high in the shelter.)
We got a ton of rain yesterday, and this is what the back of the property looked like when I woke up.
(Blue building: the original chicken coop, which will be converted to a kitten coop whenever we get our butts in gear and start working on it.)
(Green building: the chicken coop where all the chickens (and George and Gracie) live now.
(The wood shelter nearish to the cement pad: wood shed. The red building off in the distance: garden shed where most of the tractor implements live.)
The last of the Crooked Acres House Tour!
This is the upstairs bathroom, across from my bedroom, which is usually referred to as my bathroom. It’s where I shower and bathe kitties – not usually at the same time. I like the color, but let me point out that the purple isn’t quite as eye-searing as it looks here. Or, okay, maybe it is and I’ve just gotten accustomed to it.
To the right of the doorway is this little nook, perfect for a litter box or two.
And, to the left of the doorway (behind the door, really.)
The kitten room. That rug will be going away, because it’s had so much damn kitten poop on it that it’s practically visibly crawling with germs. I’m getting some foam flooring to put there instead. The chair will also be going, too – kittens have been peeing on it, and I can’t stand it anymore.
From the windows, looking back toward the hallway, obviously.
The closet where the litter boxes and cat supplies live.
Kitten supplies, toys, bedding. I hate the way this stuff is, it’s so hard to find anything. I want to get a dresser to put in there – found a couple of candidates on Craigslist last weekend – but Fred put me off ’cause he wasn’t in the mood for dealing with strangers. (I need a doormat that says “Husband don’t take too kindly to strangers.”)
Annnd, back down the hall. That’s the bathroom on the left, my room on the right, and Fred’s room straight ahead.
Are y’all dying to see the garage?
Jan and Bobby are continuing to improve. I let them stay out of their cage for most of the day and didn’t find too many unwelcome surprises when I went to check on them. I did put them back in the cage overnight – just to be safe – and haven’t been in there yet this morning. If their level of playfulness is anything to go by, they are definitely on the mend. Jan, especially, is THE most playful thing. It didn’t hurt, I suspect, that yesterday was a lovely, sunny day and they were able to spend some time soaking up the sun.
Sweet miss Marcia.
Oh, I’m sorry. Am I BOTHERING you, brats?
Marcia’s by far the biggest Brady.
Bobby? He haz a complaint. He haz lots of complaints. Often. He’s a complaining little brat, is what I’m saying.
Corbie on the couch.
Rhyme on the couch.
Corbie in the guest bedroom. (He IS SO BEAUTIFUL I CANNOT STAND IT. His long legs and skinny, lanky grace reminds me a lot of his half-brother Gus.)
Corbie in the guest bedroom again. I love this picture so much that I made it my desktop background.
I feel like he’s looking judgmentally at the icons on my desktop, like he’s thinking “Really? Weren’t you in Myrtle Beach, like, MONTHS ago? You still haven’t moved those pictures to the permanent pictures folder? Really? Corbie’s not calling you a slacker but, well. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from my judgy face.”
Spanky lurves his purple bed. This is where he spends his days, on the cat bed in the computer room. He spends his evenings perched by Fred on the couch, smacking any other cat who gets too close. He lives the life, our Spanky.
Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: Pics from around Crooked Acres.
2007: Forbidden Love.
2006: No entry.
2005: Ha on her! I DO have a kid! AND a husband! AND 6,000 cats! Look at me, I’ve got it ALLLLLLLLL!
2004: The internet just ROCKS, doesn’t it?
2003: Her date (”But not a DATE date!”) was more dressed-up than she.
2002: I did mention that I have airhead tendencies, did I not?
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
1999: I am obviously not one to wallow.
I have a kitten just like Danielle’s. At first I was told she was a polydactyl cat, having extra toes. But then the vet told me that the small toe that is usually on the side of a cats foot is just very long. So I am not sure. But it is a genetic thing and causes no problems. Three of my kittens feet are like this and one normal.
At any rate my kitten doesn’t retract her toes either. The vet says some cats never do learn to do this. I have to have her nails cut pretty often because she scrathes the heck out of me.
For Danielle: Several of my cats have extra toes, too. Only one has something similar to what you describe on your kitty. She has one toe that is crooked and placed in between other, “normal” toes. She can’t retract the claw at all and the claw itself is thicker than the ones on her regular toes. We have to keep an eye on it because when it grows it tries to curl back goes into her paw. We trim it regularly to avoid any issues.
Glad to hear that the Brady’s (hee hee) are starting to feel a bit better. Hopefully they are well on the road to recovery, because there is only so much cat poop a person should have to deal with!!!
Oh – and when I win the lottery, I will be sending a car ’round to pick up Corbie and Rhyme and whisk them to my home in Canoodlia, thankyouverymuch. They are two handsome little devils!
We had a kitten, Sweet Gimpy (RIP) who was born with NO toes on one foot, even though it still produced nails. The poor thing had nails growing every which way out of it, super brittle, and they would also curl back and poke her. We had her declawed in just the one foot to ease her troubles.
How much longer do you plan to pretend that Corbett and Rhyme aren’t official members of the Ander$on household? I mean, the rest of us know that they are, and we’re all very concerned about this denial in which you’re living. Isn’t it time to fully embrace the gorgeous gray kitty goodness?
SO glad the ADORABLE little Bradys are on the mend. I must admit, the poop posts were making me just a bit squeamish. Wound up having to read with my hands over my eyes, peeking out between my fingers. That’s not a criticism in any way, of course, other than of my squeamishness (I’m such a delicate flower).
I have two polydactyl cats and most of the extra claws stay out. I have to keep them clipped because if I don’t, it sounds like four women in high heels clacking around, and also one cat has nails that will grow so long that they poke her in her pads. Poor little mush.
The other cat has an extra toe nubbin on her two back legs, I’ve always wondered if she would have had more toes if she was on the inside of her mom a little longer.
All told, I have three cats, but I think I have enough kitty toes for 5 cats.
I love the frankenfeet-they are adorable. Your absorbed twin theory is very interesting. I’ve never had any extra toed cats so I can’t add any advice. Elphaba is so wicked with her average kitty claws we call her Captain Hooks-I shudder to think of her with more or longer ones.
Your purple is not eye-searing. You just have a bolder color sense and I think it’s great. Beigey/pastely color people are boring for me.
I agree about the poo. Bad litter box sharing with my last two cats is why I have one cat in my 1100 square foot ranch and why I’m keeping it that way as long as we live here. You are a saint for what you do for those babies, Robyn. My bff Joanie is a NICU nurse partly because she adores babies and it allows her to always be around infants without having them herself. Do you think you are the same way with kittens? (Not that you can “have one”-but it lets you have some in the house).
I don’t know anything about multi-toed kitties, sorry. But I MUST say that Danielle’s little orange kitty is adorable and I JUST LOVE the afghan she’s sleeping on.
Rhyme and Corbett Anderson. Has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it?
Your purple bathroom is lovely. The color isn’t harsh at all.
Um, I meant EXTRA-toed kitties. Most kitties have multiple toes (hopefully). Duh!
all of these comments are making me want to go grab each of my kitties and count their toes. I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed how many they have.
Two things. 1. Our cat, FatBoy, (who is fairly long and large) would only use the front part of our covered litter box (with or without the cover on it) and would NEVER cover his stuff up. I thought maybe it was because he was so long he couldn’t comfortably turn in it, so I copied your bucket idea and began to use it last week and problem solved! He not only uses the entire box, but actually has been covering his messes. Woo!
2. Question for you regarding cat allergies. About six months ago FatBoy began running at the nose. There has been snot EVERYWHERE! I have been covered in more mucous by this one cat than even my three human kiddos. It’s so bad that when he sneezes, we all jump and run like little girls because we don’t want to be hit by snot. Have any of your cats had this problem and if so, what do you do for it?
Thanks!
Got the same thing going on in my house with my eldest, Gracie…it’s wonderful to have been woken up by a cat sneezing on your face!!
She has been on two rounds of antibiotics in the past two months…nothing seems to be working and the “green” goopies are everywhere.
I’m up for any advice too : )
Thanks everybody, for the reassurance! I am probably a little paranoid overattentive when it comes to this cat. I will pass on all of the compliments to Willy but she already knows that everyone thinks she’s cute because she uses it to manipulate food out of everybody.
PS, devil, I’m pretty sure my legs are under the afghan in that picture!
I LOVE the color of your bathroom. But please, never put anything red in it or it will look like the bathroom of a member of The Red Hat Society and those women bug the crap out of me. Thanks.
Now I’ve got a little song playing in my head:
Kitten coop, kitten coop, kit-kit-kitten coop…
And I AM dying to see your garage. Because I don’t think it’s ever been on any house tour–it’s virgin territory!
You made my day: Several pictures of Corbie!!! I’m in heaven!
Aw, Spanky. I love to see the older cats. I’m running a kitty nursing home, myself.