Did you know that the Ernest Hemingway museum has over 40 six-toed cats?
Polydactyl are medium-sized cats that have six toes instead of four or five. These cats look like they’re wearing mittens because they appear to have an opposable thumb like we do.
These cats belong to a breed called American Polydactyl and are social, playful, intelligent, and friendly in nature. These cats come in a handful of colors–fawn, white, and black costing about $1000-1300.
In this blog post, we’ll be going over the Ernest Hemingway Museum Cats and share everything that you need to know about them.
Let’s get started!
A Quick Look: The Ernest Hemingway Museum Cats
A ship’s caption gifted Ernest Hemingway a white six-toed cat named Snow White. All the cats living at the Ernest Hemingway Museum Cats are its descendants. But, you also need to keep in mind that Key West is, indeed, a small island and all of the other cats living there are also closely related to each other.
These cats are taken care of my the Museum’s veterinary doctor who performs minor and major procedures on them. Of course, the cats are also vaccinated against diseases.
And, they’re well-fed.
Hurricane Irma and the Cats
In 2017, Key West Island was hit by Hurricane Irma, killing 30 people and rescuing the island to rubble. However, all of the six-toed Hemingway cats survived the destruction.
They weren’t kidding when they said that cats have nine lives!
Creative Names
Did you know that all of the Hemingway cats have creative names?
Hemingway gave all of his cats creative names, and he tradition is still alive! Hemingway cats have several names such as Marylin Monroe, Zange Grey, Hairy Truman, Bugsy Siegel, Kermit “Shine” Forbes, Cary Grant, and more. People say that employees vote on the cat names.
Sign me up for that job!
All The Cats Are Born There
All the cats that live in the Hemingway Museum are born there. While Ernst Hemingway lived on the property, there were about 70-80, sometimes even more cats living there.
However, in order to keep the population of cats in check, each female cat is allowed one litter before she is spayed. Same is the case for Tomcats.
They All Get Annual Checkups
Just because the museum is home to over 40 cats, doesn’t mean that they are not all well cared for. Each vet gets a full physical checkup annually along with the necessary shots. Their vet, Dr. Edie Clark makes sure that they do.
Catnip Causes Problems
If you’re planning on visiting the Hemingway Museum, bringing catnip along is not the best idea. With so many cats around, there’s bound to be a cat fight when two kitties want the same thing. So, the staff just keeps the catnip away from all of them.
Their Final Resting Place is the Museum Grounds
When a cat passes away, it is laid to rest in a garden right behind the museum and the burial spots are marked with a gravestone.
Summing Up: Ernest Hemingway Museum Cats
Did you get an incentive to visit the Ernst Hemingway Museum?
One of the peculiar things about the Hemingway Museum cats is that they all have six toes–or are carried for the gene. Some cats do have four to five toes, but are sill capable of having six-toed offspring.
Did you learn something new with this blog post? If so, leave comments!