This is an update on Tootsie, a rescued, polydactyl Maine Coon who has been described as “typey”. That cat breeders’ word means that she looks the way a Maine Coon should look. In other words, Tootsie is a genuine purebred Maine Coon, the salt of the earth American barn cat mouser turned show cat. She lives with Valley Girl in Atlanta, USA. Valley Girl (an internet name shortened to “VG”) has a blog about cats and other things that is a sub-domain of PoC. “Sub-domain” means it is a part of PoC but a free standing website at the same time.
VG is a science lecturer who likes her photography. She is more used to SLR cameras. SLR stands for “single lens reflex”. This comes from the old days of film. The term is still used. You look through the lens via an eyepiece, a pentaprism and a mirror.
Tootsie is quite a well known cat on the internet. If you google “polydactyl maine coon” you’ll probably see a couple of pictures by VG of Tootsie at the top of page one. Great. One of the pictures illustrates an article on a cat’s sense of touch, which I wrote years ago.
Tootsie’s coat is described as “silver patched tabby”. Tabby is the best for Maine Coons as it is the way they looked 400 years ago. It makes them look more like barn cats. We know that Maine Coons have a predisposition towards polydactylism. Some people say this is because the original Maine Coons were long haired ship’s cats from Europe and sailors selected cats with polydactyl feet because they believed they were better seafarers. The extra toes making them better on deck.
I’ll finish with a few quotes by VG on Tootsie from her Flickr webpages and her website. Tootsie is a pretty active cat and she has a good turn of speed:
..I clocked her on one long stretch about a week ago- well it was a “guesstimate”, but she was moving at ~ 25 mph…
VG found Tootsie online:
I found her online, via a local cat rescue charity. Uh, this was the photo they posted….And, the description was not exactly encouraging either- shy, needs patient person, etc. But, she is a purebred Maine coon, and I’ve long been fascinated by tales of the Maine coon. She was put into rescue because her owner became ill, and could no longer care for her.
Here is the picture of Tootsie as advertised by the rescue center.
I’ll let VG make a comment to fill in some blanks that I have no doubt left. Associated page: American Polydactyl Cat.
HI Leah, I just tried to leave a response to your comment (below) on my tka post. For some reason, I couldn’t get it to “take”. Not sure what’s up. I’ll have to get Michael’s help.
~Hi Leah, thanks for your comment. Yes, I think there is something to what you say about the right cat at the right time. I left you a longer and related comment at POC.~
HI Leah, nice to meet you too. I checked out the link for the cattery. The gallery has some really fun and sweet pictures. And lovely cats. I saw an Ozzie- gorgeous black MC- I assume that is your Ozzie, although owner names are not “Leah”. I’d love to see more pix of Ozzie, although I understand from photographer friends that black cats are really tough to photograph.
I let Tootsie go outside, but don’t leave her out when I’m not home. I live in a condo complex that is an extraordinarily safe location for many many reasons. And Tootsie “knows” that she can only venture into the area immediately near my condo. She’s really a shy cat still, and runs at the sight or sound of humans or human activity. Plus, contrary to some cats, she comes in when she’s called. And more lately recognizes my “tap tap tap” on the patio door as the “come in” signal. So, I know she’s not straying very far from home.
In the place I lived previously, just a few miles away, (before I adopted Tootsie) I would have not let her go outside.
I read in a scientific study that tracked various cats that female cats establish much smaller outside “territories” than do male cats- irrc correctly about 1/4 the area. So that in itself might make it safer to allow females outdoor.
Apparently Tootsie does go to visit the patio on a nearby condo, where “Garfield” (neutered male tabby) lives. And occasionally I see Garfield on my patio. Garfield’s human and I joke about their budding romance, although we haven’t caught them together, yet.
About King Louie- yeah, still tears me up to watch those videos. I haven’t talked to snowmom in a while, but at least at the time they weren’t ready to get another MC. Those kitties can be heart breakers. I saw your comments on the blog post, and thanks! Yes, sometimes that special cat appears at the right time.
As for polydactyls, Tootsie is the only poly I’ve met in person. But, having looked at a lot of poly pix, it seems that there are different variations in the number and shape of the toes. It’s hard to tell which of these are adaptive i.e. advantageous just from pictures. Tootsie’s front paws have an obvious “thumb” (extra digit), but the other part looks pretty much like a regular paw. She definitely uses her thumb and paws to pick up objects in a way that a non-poly couldn’t. I have reason to suspect that her polypaws are also quite useful in capturing prey… but that’s another story. Except I should add that she doesn’t kill her prey, and brings them in as “gifts”, very much alive, and intact.
VG
Leah your statement just supports what I have just written. Thank you:
https://pictures-of-cats.org/Is-it-easier-to-sex-a-cat-from-the-front-than-the-back.html
Hi Valley Girl nice to meet you!
Well she is beautiful no doubt and you can definitely tell she’s a girl; very pretty! Took me ages to read this as I was in and out of all the links but I have to say I have fallen for King Louie he was amazing I love the video of him groomung the dog and the one of him doing the same to his dad! He seems to have lived before that fella! He has such presence! I feel for his family he must’ve left a huge gap in their lives after his passing in 2009 have heard how they are doing a few years on? Did they get another Maine Coon? He reminds me of AJ from Rusti Blu who is the ‘Uncle of everyone’ he is huge and we were overwhelmed when we met him! He is probably a similar size and weight to King Louie. You can meet him here http://www.rustiblu.co.uk/3.html.
This is where our Ozzie came from although previously all our cats have been rescues and strays. We tried to get a rescue however all the cats on the Maine Coon rescue websites were outdoor cats and we have a main road so this didn’t happen.
I really enjoyed reading all your blogs and now you’ve retired I look forward to more. I only met one Polydactyl cat but I think they look sweet like cats with mittens or thumbs!
How sad that they let her get so underweight. I say that just because it seems they didn’t mention the fact when you adopted her which is odd – so I guess they weren’t paying all that much attention? I might be wrong – just a thought. Shelters for older cats used to a home must be nothing short of a worst nightmare. Worse probably than going to boarding school in another country as an 8 year old 🙂 – it’s very sad for these cats who don’t make it out, this is the thing which is impossible for us all to come to terms with emotionally – or me at least. The shelter photo of her is a reminder of that. I wonder what that does to a cat who makes it out. I wonder how long it took for Tootsie to come out of her shell after that. I guess being used to a home once meant it was easier than were she a stray. I always think of the movie ‘the matrix’ when I think about cats being taken to the vet or the shelter. A few of my cats were born in my friends garden and never saw anything other than that and my home til their operations. I’m sure plenty of feral/wild cats who are taken to a shelter and put in a cage must feel like something akin to something in the movie – it must be emotionally impossible to handle for some of them. I wonder if Tootsie remembers or dreams about her 6 months in the shelter cage. It’s the sort of traumatic event that would change a human, like being thrown in jail for no apparent reason or something along those lines. Cats are amazing if you consider what some of them go through. I can totally understand why cats who have had a hard time might take years or never even come around to trusting and being open again. Lucky for Tootsie you adopted her and not somebody who would want a purebred cat for the wrong reasons. ‘Tootsie’ – I just love that name 🙂
Thank you very much VG for dropping by and commenting. Very useful and interesting.