A Whiskered Wonder: The Astonishing Surprise of a Maine Coon Kitten Litter, Each Born with Extraordinary Attributes
A litter of Maine Coon kittens was recently born in the western United States, and their case is unique enough to earn them an appearance in a viral TikTok video.
Polydactyly affects a part of the feline population, but it is not really a rarity. What is not common, however, is that all kittens from the same litter are polydactyl and, what’s more, they are all polydactyl on all 4 legs. This is the case of a set of young Maine Coons born on a breeding farm in Colorado, in the United States.
Typically, cats have 5 toes on their front paws and 4 on their back paws. Those who have more are called polydactyls. The majority of them have extra toes on their front paws.
This characteristic does not affect the animals concerned in any way. In fact, it can even be an advantage in terms of stability and grip.
Let’s come back to the kittens in question here and who were recently born in a small family breeder, called Mountain Peak Maine Coons . The 4 little felines are all polydactyl and are so in all limbs. This unusual situation led the breeder to present them in a TikTok video that went viral, totaling thousands of views since it was posted online in early April 2024 and relayed by Parade Pets .
There we discover adorable “mini panthers” whose age is probably barely more than 8 to 10 days old, their eyes still being closed. The breeder delicately grasps the exceptional legs of these little wonders so that we can see their extra fingers.
A scope that Ernest Hemingway would have loved
Maine Coons reaching an impressive size as adults, it is easy to imagine the added presence and impression of power that their large legs will give to this quartet in a few months.
They will certainly have nothing to envy in this regard from the descendants of Snow White , the famous polydactyl cat of the writer Ernest Hemingway . Dozens of them live today in his house in Key West , Florida, transformed into a museum, more than 60 years after his disappearance.
Polydactyl cats are often called “ Hemingway cats ” for this reason.
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