The story about polycoons
By Sharo Otten
A poly
what??? What is a Pedigree Maine Coon Polydactyl
anyway…?
Well it
is a beautiful big cat with a couple extra toes and we know
who all their parents and relatives were . So who is MC
Polys you ask??? We are a bunch of cat lovers from
around the world called MC Polys and are working together to
teach people about these special cats so if you want to know
more go to www.mcpi.org on the
internet…lots of information, articles, and pictures
too. I would like to officially invite you as Vice
President of MC Polys to come visit and see for
yourself.
These
cats came from the woods of America and are a natural breed,
they have been around for a very long time, hundreds of
years. They are Maine Coon cats so they are big have a square
look to there face, head, and body and look like a regular cat
on top and a long haired fur ball in its neck, belly,
but, and tail. Their tails are extra long and very fluffy
and sometimes with their stripes look like a raccoon but
are no relation. They come in lots of sizes and colors
too and are between 10 to 22 pounds, boys are bigger than
girls, sometimes more! A while ago there was a lot of them but
some people decided to get these Maine Coon cats into the show
hall but they could not let the ones with extra toes
compete in competition only cats with 5 toes in front and 4 in
back. So slowly people stopped mating polys and their numbers
became very few! They got discriminated against because people
didn’t understand they were just different but mother
nature made them that way originally not some scientist in a
lab. These cats are happy healthy sturdy strong cats,
having a normal life and can sometimes do a little something
extra with the extra toes. They are playful, loving, gentle,
smart, handy Maine Coon cats plus their puuurrrsonality...they
are very special cats to me.
Oh yea what
about the extra toes???
A non
poly or non-poly cat has 4 claws/toes and 1 dew claw that is
higher up on their front paws, on the back they have 4
claws/toes. Many types of animals can be polydactyl…cats,
dogs, wild life, people and more. These cats have one or two
extra toe on the thumb side of their paw so it often looks
like they are wearing mittens. The toes can be different in
their shapes but can often be used like a hand. Also they can
be 6 in a straight row for really big paws. Polys can have
extra toes on their front paws only or both the front and back
paws. To get a polydactyl kitten either their mom or dad has
to be a polydactyl too. Breeders are careful when
choosing mates and only pair a poly and non poly to keep the
mitten toe form. In a litter/nest around half are born are
polys not all kittens. Right now you can not show a poly
to be champion, they are not allowed to compete for titles,
ribbons or trophies because of the rules and their extra toes.
They are quality cats being discriminated against and we are
working to change this in the future and make people
understand how special they are to us!!!
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