How many fingers do cats have and who are polydact cats?

Without living with animals, a person’s life would be boring and uninteresting. So, the most common pets in the vastness of our homeland are cats. And all because they are unpretentious animals that do not require special care and a lot of human attention. However, you cannot know everything about your favorite. That is why now I want to tell you how many cats have fingers.

Normal performance

Initially, it should be noted that in animals, as well as in humans, there may be various kinds of deviations. However, how many cats have normal fingers? So, the answer is unequivocal: four, located side by side with each other, and the fifth, a little placed at a distance and protruding (however, like people). However, this only works if we talk about the front paws.

And how many fingers does a cat have on its hind legs? Here their number will be somewhat different. So, this animal has four fingers on each paw.

To summarize, I would like to note that normally, in the sum of every cat on all four legs should be 18 fingers, and not 20 (as a person has).

Features of walking cats

Understanding how many cats have fingers, it should be noted that only four of them touch the surface on which the animal steps. And this is regardless of what kind of paws in question - front or rear.

It should also be noted that on every cat’s finger there is a fingernail that performs various functions: it includes help when climbing trees, picking up food if necessary, and a security function - protection from the enemy in case of attack. However, if the cat is completely domestic and does not visit the street, it often needs no nails. That is why they can be safely clipped using special cat scissors. This must be done carefully so as not to catch the live skin. Also, do not be afraid if the cat sometimes loses its nails. In fact, the upper layer of the claw is removed from the cat, the so-called cover, and under it there is already a new, sharp and fully grown nail.

It is important to note that any cat will sharpen its claws. If the animal visits the street, then the nearest tree will be chosen as a favorite place. If the cat is completely domestic, then any furniture can suffer, especially armchairs and sofas, where the tree is upholstered with fabric. In this case, your pet should get a scratching post, which will protect the property from damage.

Developmental abnormalities

Understanding how many fingers cats have, one also needs to talk about such a problem as polydactyly. What is it, you can understand after the translation: from the Greek language "poly" - a lot, "dactylos" - a finger. That is why we can make a simple conclusion that we will talk about such an anomaly when a pet has more than usual fingers on its paws.

Ship cats

Initially, it is important to note that humanity has known about this problem for a very long time. However, the first record of polydactyly appeared only in 1868. At the same time, polydacts (that is, animals with a large number of fingers on their paws) for some reason in many countries were considered escorts of sailors or were called ship cats. Why is that? Everything is simple.

People believed that with such a special structure of the paws, the animal would be better able to cling to the deck during storms and other problems that often arise in those at sea. Surprisingly, quite often, even if most of the crew of the ship disappeared, such cats remained safe and sound. In addition, seafarers endowed these animals with other additional functions: it was believed that polydacts bring good luck if they are on the ship.

Interesting Facts About Polydacts

We figured out how many fingers in the cat are normal - 18 on all four legs. And also considered such an anomaly as polydactyly. There are a lot of information about such special favorites that can be found on various pages of history:

1. In the Middle Ages, polydactyly was observed in many cats in the northeastern United States. However, all animals with this feature on their legs were destroyed during the witch hunt campaign.
2. The famous writer Ernest Hemingway had about 50 cats with a similar anomaly. It is worth noting that such animals are also called "cats in mittens."
3. US President T. Roosevelt had a cat Slipper, which had more fingers on its paws than it should be. This is the first polydact pet living in the White House.
4. If we talk about such a breed of cats as MaineCun, then about 40% of them are polydacts. According to legend, their paws are such that it is better to fish and run in the snow. Today, this feature of MaineCuns was artificially derived.
5. The maximum number of fingers in a polydact cat is 32 on all four paws. This feature was noted in 1974.
6. Understanding how many fingers the cat is normal and with deviations, it should be noted that most often the furry pets have one extra finger on their front paws. So, they have two separate fingers, on which cats do not step when walking.
7. The polydactyly gene does not transmit the number of extra fingers. It simply denotes this feature.

If you know how many fingers a cat has normally, photos of polydacts will not seem terrible. These cats also remain cute. And besides, they are also special.