Monday, February 25, 2008

Cats on Tuesday

Last week I joined a group called "Cats on Tuesday". Thus, here are my cat pics for Tuesday.

I honestly tried to get some good pics of my cats tonight, but they didn't want to cooperate. What I wanted to get a shot of most, was Dion's and Prissy's paws as they're both polydactyl cats.

Here's the pics I managed to get or already had. Unfortunately, it's not much.







To the left is Stacey. She's a sweet cat, not polydactyl like Dion and Prissy, and not tailess like Bobby.







This is Bobby, our tailess cutie. Doesn't he look like Groucho Marx? He has a personality to match. He can be neurotic and likes to climb up people to get their attention, but he can also be the sweetest, most loving cat alive. Although Stacey won't like me for saying this, "Uncle" Bobby was a much better mother to her kittens than she was. Bobby's always cleaning them and nurturing them, even now. And Bobby wasn't their blood uncle, just an adopted family member.







Meet sleepyhead, I mean Dion (short for "Dionysius").


He's very big and very mellow (and very sleepy at this time of night).







See the extra digit on Dion's paw? Oy! The pic's still dark. I promise to get a better pic soon.







Here's a pic of another polydactyl paw, that's a little clearer. I'll keep trying to get a very clear picture of Dion's or Prissy's paws and when I do, I'll post them here.

Before I adopted Dion, I'd never heard of Hemingways or polydactyl cats. Supposedly, Ernest Hemingway fell in love with polydactyl cats, too, and adopted several. They propagated and now there are approximately 60 cats on his estate, about half of them with the polydactyl (6-toed) paws.

I just read that the extra digit, or in other words, the polydactyl paw is considered a mutation. No cat that has this feature (the big thumb or extra toe) can be considered a pure breed. No one supposedly tries to breed polydactyl cats.

If Dion's an example, that's a shame. He's the most mellow, adorable, and cute and cuddly cat on the planet. Everyone thinks his paws are awesome. I'll definitely get a pic of him to post soon. He was extra-camera shy tonight, unfortunately.

I'll make it my mission to have more and better cat pictures for next week's Cats on Tuesdays. Stay tuned. Same day, some blog.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't know anything about cats excerpt they are short and furry...have a good day

Anonymous said...

I believe that cats with the extra toe are common in Cornwall (UK) where they are known as Cornish Fisher Cats. Local opinion has it that they have the extra toe to help them grab fish in the rock pools - Carnwall has lots of rock pools. And Cornish fisher cats.

Anonymous said...

That last comment was from Eric George - I've forgotten my Google details and can't be bothered jumping through the hoops to recover them,

Eric

Unknown said...

Hi Eric! And Amarinda!

I love my cats, can't you tell? I know all people don't but I love to cuddle them and look at them and just be with them.

Eric, I'll probably be asking you more if I decide to use that info in a future story. I'll do some research later on Cornish Fisher Cats. For now, I have to start the day job. :(

DJ Kirkby said...

I love your cats, gorgeous they are! I have a big black sleep boy too, he shares our bed, much to Chopper's disgust!

Sandra Cox said...

Aww, what sweet babies, Ash.

Cath said...

They are beautiful cats! Thanks for stopping by mine and looking at my cats.

Bobby is a Manx cat if he was born tail-less. Manx cats come from the Isle of Man, between the north west of England and Ireland.

All my cats are "moggies" - mixed parentage with long tails and ordinary toes!

Unknown said...

I sort of figured Bobby's a Manx. The lady I adopted him from didn't know if he was born that way but it looks like it's . It's interesting to know where Manx came from.

It's also interesting to hear all these new terms from you and Eric. I guess Stacey and Mocha are "moggies", and then of course, I have the two Hemingways (Dion and Prissy).

Cat stuff aside, I'm particularly interested in learning British and Aussie terms as I sometimes write characters from those places and I try to be authentic.

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