26-finger cat

Most cats are kept in the house with 18 fingers - 5 toes and 4 toes on the hind legs. But strangely, Des cat, currently 10 years old, has 7 fingers on the front leg and 6 fingers on the hind legs. In total, it possesses a significant number of fingers: 26 fingers.

With so many toes, Alison Thomas's family cat lives in Felindre, near Swansea, a record-sized cat in England.

An expert said that cats with such a large number of toes usually originate from the ancient city of Cardiganshire, and are also known as ' Cardi ' cats. One such cat with many fingers is often called ' Polydactyl '.

26-finger cat
(Photo: BBC)

Sally Hyman, of Llys Nini Animal Center in Penllergaer Swansea, said she saw a lot of cats with six fingers and mostly ' Cardi ' cats but had never seen any children with seven fingers before. Such ' Cardi ' cats with many fingers are due to genetic mutations and are often concentrated in the Southwest of Wales. She claims that the possibility of the Des cat being bred from a 'Cardi' cat is huge.

Mrs. Thomas was 'surprised', because Des was born in Newcastle Emlyn in the West of Wales. ' It's obviously a cat' Cardi ', she said.

She said: 'We started adopting when it was about 6 months old. He often jokes at the door. Its toes are very big so we are very recognizable. The first thing people say when they see it is - look at its feet. ' She also said that it did not encounter difficulties with unusual toes. Mrs. Thomas said she read the document about cats with 24 fingers but 26 fingers are ' very rare '.

Ms Thomas added: 'We are still happy because it is a cat with a record number of legs in the UK'.

The world record for a multi-finger cat belongs to a cat named Mickey Mouse, who lived in 1974. Its owner is Renee Delgade, who lives in Westlake Village, California. This cat has 32 fingers. But this record is still in doubt because this cat has two front legs that are dual legs and as such it is not a ' multi-finger ' animal - purely Polydactyl.

The world record still belongs to a cat with 28 fingers named Bobbi. He was recognized because he was actually Polydactyl in 2002.

MT