r/polydactyl

i'm a first-time cat owner and here is my baby polly! she's 1 year old and a polydactyl with an extra bean on each paw. i impulsively adopted her from a cat shelter back in february after losing my younger brother to gun violence. we were best friends; i missed him so much that i was trying to fill a void inside of me. now polly is my whole world and we absolutely adore each other. she's a little shy at first but she's so funny and affectionate once she comes out of her shell. she's not exactly cuddly but follows me around everywhere and loves to hang out really close nearby.

i truly believe that some way, somehow we were meant to be companions. she shares the same birth month as my brother. her previous owners brought her back to the shelter the day of my brother's last birthday, january 23rd. she even shares a name with a beloved character from one of my brother's favorite tv shows, peaky blinders. we used to love watching that show together and thought aunt polly was so badass. she's helped me so much after dealing with loss. she gives me something else to look forward to everyday. when i felt like i had nothing left to live for, she gave me a new purpose. i'm so glad i found her!

edit: typo

First polydactyl cat. I can’t stop complimenting his massive feet.

Caution: his cuteness causes incapacitation with prolonged exposure.

Yams is 6 years old and never had issues with her extra toes before, but this year she started pulling on the claws and chewing them into stubs. We found a cat orthopedist who determined that since Yams was putting weight on the malformed extra toes, they were causing pain. Her most outward normal toes had also started turning sideways because of how much she was compensating posture-wise. That unfortunately meant the thumbs had to go.

She's still recovering from the surgery but seems energetic and more bothered by the drugs and cone than having just been operated on. We on the other hand loved her big paws so it's like we're feeling the loss more than she is. Yams is a very active cat and I take her on walks with me, which probably contributed to the toe issues. A less active, exclusively indoor cat probably doesn't move around as much.

Despite losing her iconic thumbs, I'm looking forward to taking her on walks again. Curious to see if her silly gait stays or if she starts walking like a normal cat.

This also as a heads up that the extra toes aren't always problem free.

EDIT: Wanted to add that Yams was on painkillers for a week before we decided what to do with the toes. The gnawing stopped immediately. She was otherwise perfectly healthy and left other toes alone, so there was only one conclusion to come to.

Thought you guys might like some pics of my man Monkey's toe beans and a bonus pic of him investigating the security camera.

This is my gal Toes Mittenhand

She's such a sweet girl. She was originally a stray but now she lives almost full time in their nice garage.

The Booger Prince himself.

This is Bins, my 19 year old lap barnacle. She’s here to say hello to fellow polies!

She’s got 3 extra toes (one is vestigial/very small and deformed, the nails are hidden in the fur oh the outside of her other extra toes) with claws that are permanently extended! Her other toes sit a bit strangely as well; all of her claws are always kind of a little extended. She gets regular trims at our vets to make sure she doesn’t get stuck in the carpet (or my clothes!)

We’re currently working with her vet to determine if this is causing her excess pain and what to do about it if that is the case. I think it’s fairly likely and in all honesty I’m so goddam curious about what’s going on in there. I’m saving up for x rays just to have them if nothing else lmao

She’s almost always sitting in my lap or laying on my side, if not downstairs sleeping in the sun! I won’t lie, she’s already spoiled as hell, but if anyone has any recommendations for OTC products that have helped your poly kitties with arthritis I would love to hear them! She’s already on a mobility supplement and has access to a heating pad pretty much whenever she wants (I’m always home to supervise) but I am always willing to do more if it will help her :)

my highland lynx :)

For those that have had multiple cats in their life feel their polydactyl is just crazy more than a normal cat?

This girl steals knives, yes I have had to chase her with a knife she stole while I was using it 🤦🏽‍♀️

I also see her constantly trying to grab things like a human hand.

But just her energy is unmatched. When she was a baby (mind you my mom also has had a lot of cats) my mom was watching her while he had company and she said she was the craziest cat she has ever seen 😅

I don’t know if it’s her extra digits or she just has the craziest personality 😂 anyways she turned a non cat person (my boyfriend) into a cat person 😂

Ernie- our 26 toed fauxshoe with mild cerebeller hypoplaxia. Just a goofy footed roof climbing boy who terrorizes our other cats with love

Also update, sweet Paul Toes opened their eyes a few days ago ♡ they look like little Boba Tea pearls ♡♡♡

Also is uneven toe number between paws common in polydactyl cats? Baby's right paw has 6, left has 5

He's all grown up 😭😭❤️ he won't let me take a nice pic of his huge feets but they are massive and fluffy. He's the sweetest kitty !!! Chino the gentle giant

Hi everyone!

Found this little criminal running around my mom’s backyard. It took 40 minutes to catch him. My sister played mom cat sounds from TikTok, and he meowed back to them is how we were able to apprehend him.

Punishment is a life sentence indoors. He has 22 claws and tons of extra beans. Vet said no chip, slight respiratory infection, so he is on antibiotics, and he is FIV-free. He is estimated 7 weeks old and weighed 1.8lbs. Say hi to Markie, named after my father Mark who died 5 days ago.

Update: Unfortunately Markie didn’t make it. He vomited twice. The second vomit looked like there may have been worms in it. We called the vet, to get him back in. Then another vomit followed by a wet bowel movement that definitely had worms. He started losing energy, we got him to the vet. They gave him fluids, but we couldn’t afford to put him in a 24hr emergency vet clinic. His breathing got worse and worse and he passed in his sleep. RIP Markie and Dad.

Is being cuddly a Polydactyl trait? Like…. Is the kitten worth getting for a while other reason than they have cool feet? Haku, here, is the first Poly I’ve lived with but, I’ve always noticed they seem cuddly.