Toe Bean News: 28-Toed Cat Ties World Record For Most Toes!

11 comments

Meet Paws, who's been launched into the spotlight thanks to her teeny, tiny toe beans: all 28 of them. 

polydactyl cat paws

Cats normally have 18 toes - five on each front paw and four on their back paws. But Paws has a bounty of toe beans to share with the world: 28 of them, in fact! Paws and her 28 toes are tied for the World Record for Most Toes on a Cat.

She shares the title with a ginger tabby named Jake. According to Guinness, each toe must have its own claw, pad and bone structure to qualify as an official toe bean.

Paws was taken in by Jeanne Martin in Northfield, Minnesota. When asked about Paws' special paws, Jeanne told CBS News: “It almost looks like a catcher’s mitt," adding that the "gloved paw" help her grip narrow surfaces, almost acting like thumbs! 

When Jeanne takes Paws to the vet to get her claws trimmed, Jeanne always reminds them to make sure they get all 28. They don't even charge her extra for the bonus beans. 

"I told them once, I said, 'you really ought to charge me extra because she has so many more,'" Jeanne said.

Paws' extra digits are due to a genetic mutation known as polydactyly, a normally benign congenital abnormality that results in the growth of additional toes. Often called Hemingway cats in honor of author Earnest Hemingway's house full of six-toed felines in Key West, FL, polydactyl cats aren't as uncommon as you'd might think - but they're plenty adorable! 

Do you have a multi-toed feline? Share with us on our Facebook or in the comments section below! 

 


11 comments


  • Laura S.

    Going to take 2 kittens to the local vet for a toe count. Definitely have one that matches the world record, 28, IMO. The mother has 22 including ‘thumbs.’


  • Mitch Bright

    I came across Bigfoot at work one day! He would not stop climbing in my truck! I noticed his deformation and thought? ( he will never survive here) – so I took him with me. He has at least 26 toes, but possibly 28 I’m not 100% until I take him to the veterinarian to see for sure? Also he has the coloration of a wild cat/instead of you’re average house cat. He has absolutely no problems with his extra toes, he is an outside cat and has no trouble catching many different critters from snakes- all the way to an actual rabbit he’s caught recently. I’d like to post his photo here for all to see. He is approximately 1-years old


  • Lori
    I have two Polydactyl cats with all four paws that a multi toed

  • Trauma

    The article has two differnt cats pictured. Neither are ginger, so only one picture is of either cat mentioned in the article. So confused.


  • Constance

    Our black cat Onyx has 24 toes. 14 toes on the front feet and 10 on the back. He is beautiful.


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