The Ship's Cat

Gordo’s mind must work overtime … while the rest of us sleep.
This morning’s random thought was … “Although we already have 5 cats … you and Mikey should go to Key West, visit Ernest Hemingway’s home and get a 6 knuckled cat for … Good Luck.”

“Ok dad … I’ll look into that”.
What the heck?
So off I go… to do a Google search.

He was slightly correct.

Polydactyl cats - a type of cat body type genetic mutation that causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws.

Polydactyl cats have been extremely popular as … “Ships’ Cats”

Sailors were long known to value polydactyl cats especially for their extraordinary climbing and hunting abilities as an aid in controlling shipboard rodents. Some sailors also considered them to be extremely “good luck” when at sea.

Ernest Hemingway was one of the more famous lovers of polydactyl cats, after being first given a six-toed cat by a ship's captain. Upon Hemingway's death in 1961, his former home in Key West, Florida, became a museum and a home for his cats, and it currently houses approximately fifty descendants of his cats (about half of which are polydactyl). Because of his love for these animals, "Hemingway Kitty Cat", or simply "Hemingway Cat", is a term which has come to describe polydactyls.

And now you know … the rest of the story.

P.S. We own a book called the Ship's Cat ... one of my husband's favorites.

Hmm? Is that a sign? Maybe we should go to Key West. LOL

Happy New Year!