# " Hemingway" cats?



## lyle (Oct 28, 2010)

On vacation in Cedar Key, Fl. There is a colony of cats here with at least six toes. One of the locals said that six toed cats were common in seaport towns as it made it easier for them to navigate between ship and dock by walking on the dock lines. I love a good story! They also seem to have wide noses. They look pretty rough for living in the sunshine state, but appear to have some sort of caregiver support.


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## Nora B (Nov 6, 2010)

Hmmm - Hemingway House down in Key West is over 500 miles from you with their polydactyl crew hemingwayhome.com | Cats


Maybe it's not so much that the extra toes helped on the ropes but that a bunch of the ports had the same ships stopping back & forth up & down the coast along the keys....although I kinda like the rope story, especially since cutting all those extra nails is zero fun in my book  would be nice they were good for something at one time or another.....


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

its a dominate trait, one of the parents has to be polydactyl. legend has it that the line was kept active by sailing ships.. and they are more often found along the east coast and some english sea ports.. hemingway first cat was reported as a gift from a ship captain.. and yes they do know how to use those extra toes


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## lyle (Oct 28, 2010)

Apparently CedarKey is also known for its clams. Perhaps the extra toes/ claws were adapted to shuck clams


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## Nora B (Nov 6, 2010)

lyle said:


> Apparently CedarKey is also known for its clams. Perhaps the extra toes/ claws were adapted to shuck clams


 
HA! & No doubt for stricking a match to light the fire to set the shells to steamming on too! LOL:idea


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## Dave_ph (Jul 7, 2009)

Florida kitties are tough. They can take on coyotes and alligators


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## Nora B (Nov 6, 2010)

epicish my butt - that cat was beyond awesome!!!!!! The best was the complete contrast between oh lets snuggle the human - okay time to beat on the gator then back to snuggle the human - then 2 gators ,let's go - that cat it the ______!


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## lyle (Oct 28, 2010)

Don't they feed the gators chicken? I have a couple of garage cats who might fight a large reptile for a chicken.


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## lyle (Oct 28, 2010)

While I'm on the subject, it also seemed to me that the Cedar Key cats had relatively flat/ wide noses. Gave them a kind of " back- alley" tough cat look. Any one else ever notice something similar? I'll try to post some pics at a later date.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

Dang I couldnt see the Utube. 
Are the cats just tom cat type head and faces? Like when theye arent neutered? Unless you mean like the apple headed look? I looked at the pictures and couldnt see what your talking about. But it could be the way the picture was taken too. They sure are cute!


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## lyle (Oct 28, 2010)

I took some pics w/a camera, but can't post them w/the iPod I'm carrying. Might just be my imagination ( the wide noses) and it's not much. I'll have to upload them when I return from my trip. And these are Cedar Key cats not their more famous cousins in Key West.


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## lyle (Oct 28, 2010)

*Warf Cat*

One of the stray cats at Cedar Key, Fl.

Like Dave_ph said. Florida kitties are tough. 

And don't their noses look a little wider than in most cats?








[/url]
WarfCat by clylet, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## Nora B (Nov 6, 2010)

I definetly see the wide nose in the black and white, there are farm cats one county west of me that all seem to have wider flater noses and nose bridges...that reads odd but the nose is actually wider and flatter all the way up to the top of the skull just like that kitty. So it isn't just you, I see it and have noticed it in other areas as well. I've wondered if it isn't a localized version in our dsh kitties of whatever genetics people bred for to get flat flaced persians and such? Here is a link to one of my found kitties (up for adoption now that has that broadness in the nose bridge but not as much flatwideness in the nose as the key kitties. http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/22553124


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