This cat has six extra toes and Ernest Hemingway would have loved her

• 1 March 2015
• By Alisha Rouse

A rare condition has left 19-year-old ginger tabby Natasha, who has retired to Dorset after once residing on the streets of New York, with oversized paws

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Polydactyl feline: Known as 'Hemingway cats' because the author kept dozens of them in his house

Natasha the cat may have nine lives but she also has another impressive set of digits - 24 TOES.
A rare condition left the ginger tabby with oversized paws and half a dozen more toes than your average puss.
The fabulous feline spent a year looking after herself on the Upper West Side in New York before she was adopted by Shirley Belwood.
Shirley couldn't face leaving her behind when she emigrated to Wimborne, Dorset, around ten years ago.
And now a grand 19 years of age, Natasha has become one of life's survivors thanks in part to her super-sized feet which stand out from her average body.

Natasha has seven toes on both front paws - two more than normal - and five on her hind legs instead of four.
Such felines are known as 'Hemingway cats' because author Ernest Hemingway became a famous fan of them after being given a six-toed cat by a ship's captain.
Shirley said Natasha is clumsier than most cats - but she has lost none of her native New York attitude.
She said: "If you give her certain toys, she can't play with them properly.
"It's so funny, she looks so awkward because she just can't grab them."

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High, erm, seven: Two extra digits on each front foot

She recalled: "I heard her crying for ages outside my apartment window, and I just had to find her.
"She's got a lot of attitude and she's quite the character but we're so close.
"She doesn't do as much these days as she has diabetes, but she's still so frisky and cranky - a typical New Yorker.
"The nurses at the vets say she 'swears a lot' at them whenever she goes. That just shows what she's like."
Shirley has two other cats and says Natasha gets along with them - but prefers a quiet life.
She added: "Although she does like to keep herself to herself, she's an older lady now and likes peace and quiet."

The world record for the cat with the most toes is currently held by a Canadian cat named Tiger who has an impressive 27.
Some polydactyl cats have problems with joint growth, the forming of legs and nail beds and extra thick claws fusing together.
Last week a cat named Lucky survived a hair-raising motorway journey trapped perilously close to a red-hot engine after crawling inside a high performance car.

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