![]() ![]() In pet cats this can easily be rectified by frequent claw clipping. The actual claws were slightly overgrown due to problems with stropping them. This may not have caused problems to the cat in the wild (on a farm), but it caused problems in temporary captivity as the claws kept getting caught on the wire mesh. The only time I have seen a lobster-clawed cat was with a feral cat in a trap-neuter-release program. Like polydactyly, the condition rarely causes problems so long as the claws are kept clipped. It occurs when the cells between each toe do not die during embryo development and the toes do not separate (these cells are normally programmed to die during digit formation). The fused digits can be simple with the digits connected only by skin, or it can be complicated with the bones, tissues and claws fused. Syndactyly varies from webbed toes to fused digits. The toes are apparently oriented one facing upwards and one facing downwards (i.e. The cat even uses them as pincers to hold toys and small objects. Each paw resembles a crab's pincer (hence the common name of "Lobster Claw Syndrome"), having only 2 toes which are semi-opposable. Syndactyly is rarer than polydactyly so I was interested to receive details of a cat with 4 affected paws. As the conditions are similar and rarely distinguished from each other in cats, I have used the term syndactyly from hereon. Hereditary syndactyly usually occurs on both sides while congenital syndactyly often affects only one side. Syndactyly involves the union of bony and/or soft tissue of two or more toes and can be hereditary or congenital (non inherited). ![]() It often occurs on one side only and there may be other abnormalities: deformed or under-developed toes and partly fused toes. In different mammals there are both dominant and recessive forms of this defect. Ectrodactyly is the "lobster claw" defect where the paw is split longitudinally, most commonly between the first and second toes. Syndactyly and Ectrodactyly are visually similar. 279-283, 1953) discussed the lobster-claw condition in cats Searle noted that the anomaly was usually inherited as a dominant, and had suggested that the right side was often more severely affected than the left. A paper by A G Searle (in "Annals of Eugenics" Vol. The other digits have either been suppressed altogether or each of the cat's toes is made up of two or more fused digits. In humans, the condition is sometimes known as "lobster-hand". In the most familiar form, called Ectrodactyly, there is a central split and two toes giving the appearance of a crab or lobster claw. Instead of having additional toes, the cat's forefeet (rarely the hind feet) have one or more toes fused. Syndactyly (hypodactyly) or split-foot is the opposite of polydactyly. This page explains some of the paw anomalies that can occur in cats, other than extra toes. CATS PAW ANOMALIES - SYNDACTYL (OLIGODACTYL), BRACHYDACTYL & ECTRODACTYL ETC CATS' PAW ANOMALIES - SYNDACTYL (OLIGODACTYL), BRACHYDACTYL & ECTRODACTYL ETC ![]()
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