has anyone ever heard of this????
 

I have a cat that has this strange thing with his paws and I can not find any info about this anywhere.

My youngest cat (he is a maine coon cat) has a "thumb" (extra toe) on each of his front paws. This is not the weird thing. The weird thing is the claw on each of the 'thumbs'.

On both "thumbs" he has a double claw. Two sepetate and distinct claws growing out of one toe. The two claws are very close to each other, but are not attatched to each other at all.

I have seen cats with extra toes (thumbs) before.... the cat I had as a child actually had 2 extra toes on each front paw.... but the double claw thing is strange and I can not find any info about it at all.

The problem with the double claw is that the cat can not scratch the double claw very well on the scratching post, and scratching on the post is what helps cats shed their old nails so that the new growth has room.

Because he can not scratch well, he can not shed the old claws very well, so I have to help him by using the nail clippers. The biggest problem is that the double claws are so close to each other that it is difficult to get the clippers in the right place to trim one claw without huring the 2nd claw that is so very close.

Has anyone ever heard of a cat having a double claw - one toe with 2 claws?? Anyone have any hints or tips on how to better trim the claws for him??

Please don't suggest that I have the "thumbs" declawed because I would never have a cat declawed... and the double claw is not hurting him or causing a medical problem, it's just annoying to him to be unable to scratch it on the post properly (although it is amusing to watch him try) and he doesn't really like having me trim them either (but he does sit still because he wants his treat when I am done) :)

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has heard of the double-claw thing or if anyone has any ideas to help me maintain/trim the double-claw better.

Thanks :)
Liz

My sister used to raise Maine Coons (had the world champion and an excellent cattery), so she is quite the expert. I'll email her your post and see what she says.

Thank you Julie :)

I am jealous that your sister gets to interact with so many Maine Coons... they are such wonderful and beautiful cats.

Thanks :)

I think I've read about one of Doody's cats that is a Maine Coon. I'll ask her about this.

Thank you scrabble :)

I am have been trying to convince my husband to help me take a picture of the double claws, but he is not excited about this since he just helped me trim them this afternoon... he dislikes helping with these things because he doesn't want the cat to think he is the "bad guy" since he is the one who usually does the holding while I do the nail trimming.

I'm trying to convince him that I will hold the cat while he takes the picture... hopefully by tomorrow I will have a picture :)

Liz

Ok, I got a picture :)

If you click on the small picture you will be able to see a larger picture that shows the detail better.

Hi Liz~

Wow...interesting. Expecially interesting if there is more of this in a particular breed of cat. Thanks for posting the picture..it really helps to visualize.

I recently found that my little pooch has a back foot claw/nail that curves the wrong way. I haven't yet figured out if the whole "toe" is malformed, or just the nail... but it curves sideways and upwards instead of down.

Cara

Hi Cara,

My dog had 2 claws that grew in the wrong direction.

One of them was the "pinkie toe" on her front paw. This claw always grew outwards (away from the other toes) and the vet could never find a reason because the toe itself was fine. The only "problem" with the claw being sideways was that she would occasionally snag it on things and it was more difficult to trim than her other claws.

The second crooked claw was one of the dew claws on her back leg. This one grew upwards instead of downwards. Again, the vet found nothing that could explain why this claw grew up instead of down. Because it was a dew claw it was no problem at all.

Hopefully, your puppy has normal toes with a weird claw for no particular reason, and hopefully the claw will not bother him. :)

Liz

I asked my sister and she had no idea. She suggested posting on some of the cat fancier type websites.

Hi Wittesea
I will post this question for you at my catlovers group.
Maybe with everyone checking someone can find something out for you.

Hi Wittesea. I don't have a Maine Coon, just a lovable cat with tons of toes, 26.

He doesn't have double claws, but has a few deformed kind of claws that are really thick and cause him problems, discomfort I think too.

I think it would be a good idea to find a cat site as suggested and see what those folks might have to say.

That is very strange looking!!!! I bet your Maine is beautiful.

Oh yeah, Chewie is a polydactyl.

Not a good picture at all, but gives you an idea of how huge Chew's feet are. He has double pads on all 4 paws also.

Oh, and those nasty extra claws he has aren't even growing out of a toe, they are just on the sides of a couple of his feet. Really thick and yucky looking.


.

I've been all over the internet already, lol, and there are a lot of cat forums out there.

It made me remember, polydactyls are sometimes called Hemmingway cats.

I'd love to go to this place someday.
.
. You gotta check this place out, it's awesome.

Thank you all for your help :)

He is such a strange and special cat, so I am not at all suprised that his double claw thing is strange and unusual too.

I will post some pictures of him (and my other 2) soon -- I have to resize the pics and upload them to my pic posting site.

Again, thank you all... I will post to one of the cat forums and let you all know if I find out anything about this double claw thingy :)

Liz

This is the best reply out of several:
I hope it helps.



not only have I heard of it, but I've got one of those... ;) Fido's "extra clawsies" are "doubles" of his "thumbs" ....I'm blessed in that he's a very good sport about letting me or George trim his nails (this guy's NOT a lil' cat..at last check he's upto 16lbs) ...we use either baby human nail clippers or nail scissors for his "extra" clawsies ...mainly 'cuz I don't wanna chance accidentally cutting anything BUT claw or cutting it too close to the quik ...and we coo praises at him and pet him while we're trimming his claws (it's a 2 person job : 1 trimming, 1 distracting the cat and holding him still)

Hemingway cats at risk!
 

Someone in Fla filed a complaint (a neighbor) with the U.S. dept of Agriculture to
get the cats removed...this has created a legal nightmare.

Here is a story on it:

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Thank you Kell!!

Just knowing that someone else has seen this makes me feel better... knowing that my cat is strange, but is not the only strange cat is a bit of a relief :) Thank you for helping me with this :)

Liz

OMG. Legalities with Hemingway's cats? Please excuse me while I get upset.