Toe Bean News: 28-Toed Cat Ties World Record For Most Toes!
Meet Paws, who's been launched into the spotlight thanks to her teeny, tiny toe beans: all 28 of them.
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!
My beloved late Sebastian had 24 toes, two extra on each front paw, and one extra on each back foot. But what was really unique about Sebastian was that he had two claws growing out of one of his toes on his right, front paw. Sebastian was so adorable when he was a kitten, besides his striking good looks as a half-Siamese, (he looked like a shorthaired Ragdoll), when he was very small, he couldn’t coordinate all those extra toes, and he’d get his claws caught in the carpet. Doing so would cause him to somersault over onto his back, with his front claws raised over his head, caught in the short carpeting. He’d cry until somebody came to free him from the carpet. Sometimes he’d only take a few more steps, just to get caught, and flip over again, poor boy! I adored him, and still miss him all these years later.
We have PixieBob kittens- polydactlyl toes are a requirement of the breed. One has 7 on each of the front and 6 on the rear. The other has 6 on each of the front and 5 on each of the rear. 28 sounds low to me for a world record.
My Sasquatch has 7 on both front paws and 6 on both back. He is my lovebug! I rescued him 2 years ago at the age of 7 from Happy Home Resue here in Las Vegas, NV.. or, rather, he rescued me?.
I wish I could figure out how to post a pic. He is so beautiful!
I rescued Poly from the vet clinic where she had been taken in. I need to count her toes but I think she is going to be right up there in the 27-28 toe range. She has right on one front paw and nine on the other, all with needle-like claws…
That beats my Polly D. She has 7 on the fronts and 5 on the backs.Polys know they are special!
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