# Multi-Toed Cats- or My Cat is a Mutant. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2000, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085 "2000-07-19T12:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085/21 "2000-07-19T19:22:17Z")
**wolfman** : > [@](#): > > ALfonseca, a pitcher for the Marlins has 6 fingers and toes on each hand. Are the toes in their own group to the side, or do they alternate finger/toe, finger/toe? ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085/22 "2000-07-20T05:22:56Z")
I have a six-toed cat. Just lost my other Poly last year. I grew up with a steady stream of polys. We usually had one or two. And then they’d have kittens, (not breeding with each other, mind) and we’d have a new generation of polys! I’ve seen polys with all sorts of toe configurations. 7 toes, 8 toes - you name it. One cat had 7 on one front paw, 8 on the other. Freaky. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085/23 "2000-07-20T16:57:17Z")
Jack is a mutt cat that I got at the spca- so I don’t know the breed. I live in NJ, so I very well may live near Nuclear Waste. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085/24 "2000-07-21T01:01:43Z")
My Polly is a patched tortose-shell. She has 7 toes on each front foot and 6 on each rear foot. They are all good toes, her feet look huge. The vet commented on the “all good toes”, saying they frequently had trouble with toes that were little more than skin and claw. She was a stray, and pregnant when we got her. She had 6 kittens. 3 with extra toes, 2 males and 1 female. The female had her extra toes like half an extra foot, or like a human hand with 2 thumbs. They were removed because she had trouble walking. The vet removed several of the funny little skin and claw toes from each kitten and they never grew back. All her babies have been spayed/neutered, but it would be interesting to see how the extra toes turned up in future generations. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085/25 "2000-07-21T01:53:41Z")
Polydactylism is harmless (though robinh makes a good health point) and is quite common in the American Northeast. I believe it is a genetic variation which serves no real purpose but persists due to inbreeding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multi-toed-cats-or-my-cat-is-a-mutant/26085.md?page=1)