Kitties

[gaz2]

Sorry for the long hiatus - been busy.

So Christine and I got a new cat a few weeks back - a Humane Society special.

Comments

[jd7a]

my sister has a cat who is polydactyl and has what she describes as opposable thumbs, but I have no idea if they interfere with his walking. I'll have to ask her about that.

As for the Humane Society thing, isn't it kinda inhumane to overcrowd them like that? Geesh. From what I can tell, in Austin, the Humane Society is the primo posh place for animals to go. It's no-kill, but I think they're also pretty selective, because there were at least a couple empty cages when we were there (that's where we picked up our adorable white kitty). The main kill shelter in our area is the Town Lake shelter, and they take anything off the street. The problem with them is they had very few animals that were "ready for adoption". Most of the cats they had were still in a kinda quarantine room.
It's awful to go to these places, though. I just want to take all of them home, especially when I know they could be euthanized. ugh.

[mg4h]

From the bit of research I've done, I'd say that the thumb may not be all that bad, actually. There is a rare form of polydactyl that causes the cat to have a second joint in the "thumb" - in which case, surgery is an option, but for just regular polydactyl it isn't a big worry. Another possibility is he might not be able to sharpen the claw appropriately to keep it trimmed, so it will continue to grow. In that case you either get to trim it for him, or get that toe declawed.

Now, mind you, I'm not a vet - but if you think this will bother the cat, feel free to wait. If you notice the cat walking funny, flinching after jumping down, and if you can't touch his paws without him crying - then I'd say something is wrong.

Many many cats live with polydactylism. If this was my cat I'd discuss it a lot more with the vet before proceeding - you can't put the toes back on later ;(

[mg4h]

if you think this will bother the cat
Whoops. Should be "will not bother" - must finish thought before typing.

[gaz2]

That's the thing. I can't be totally certain, but it looks like it will bother him, though we don't see any symptoms now. The problem is that right now, we can see him sitting and standing with the knuckle folded under, so he's either putting weight on the end of the toe, or on the top of the toe instead of the pad. My thinking is that it should be sorta like wisdom tooth removal - I don't see any long-term downsides with removing the toe, but there is a good possibility that not removing it will cause badness down the line.
Unforunately, I can't teach Mr. Kitty to speak English. That would make things a lot easier.

[jacquez]

We have a cat with opposable front thumbs, but here's the thing: she does not tuck those under when she walks. She splays them out and uses the pads of them as if they are normal toes.

If your kitty is actually walking on his knuckle - ow. That sounds painful.