My Cat has too Many Toes...

I personally have a cat with polydactylism. That is, he has one too many toes on each of his paws. Normally, a cat has 18 toes. The front paw has five toes - four toes and one dewclaw (the small toe on the inside of the foot that doesn’t touch the ground). Most polydactyl cats have one or two extra toes on each foot, with the extra toes appearing on the thumb side of the foot.

Physically and genetically, polydactylism is not a dangerous trait among cats. However, it is a dominant one. It can be assumed, therefore, if either one of a kitten's parents is polydactyl, chances are that the kitten will be too.

Polydactylism doesn’t adversely affect cats. However, It offers them no advantages. It is simply a quirk, neither bad nor good.