Critters II: A Polydactyl Kitty Victory

It's not Sunday when we often cat blog here at Kiko's House, but there's big news that just can't wait:

Officials in Key West have sided with the caretakers of Ernest "Papa" Hemingway's former home and its celebrated multi-toed felines in its catfight with the feds.

First, a little background: The legendary novelist, who lived in the Florida resort city for many years before splitting for Cuba, stipulated in his will that his house could be used as a museum, which it is, and his cats and their progeny were to be cared for in perpetuity, which they have been.

Because of generations of inbreeding, the cats are polydactyl, which means they have more than the normal number of toes, typically six toes on each foot, or in the case of Terrapin (see photo with my dear late bud Rochelle) seven toes each on his front paws and six toes each on his rear paws.

There are 50 or so cats roaming around the museum, while Key West city law prohibits more than four domestic animals per household. The dispute had been exacerbated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which claims the museum is an "exhibitor" of cats and needed a special license.

Terrapin came into my life on one of my regular trips to the Florida Keys in the late 1970s. Through a friend of a friend, I adopted the six-week-old fluff ball from the Hemingway manse and brought him north to the farm where I then lived.

Being a cat, Terrapin was insatiably curious -- and then some. He disappeared the following year when, I am almost certain, he hoped a ride on a parked United Parcel Service deliver van and went off to see the world.