AUTHOR S ABSTRACT OF THIS PAPER ISSUED BY 

 THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, NOVEMBER 17 



A CASE OF A SYNDACTYLOUS CAT 



GRACE P. HAYS 



Reed College, Portland, Oregon 



SIXTEEN FIGURES 



An interesting case of syndactyly in a cat was brought to my 

 attention by Prof. H. B. Torrey. The kitten was two or three 

 months old when given to him. It lived for six weeks afterward. 

 During this time it ate very little and this was obviously fol- 

 lowed by much discomfort. Its death seemed to be due to 

 starvation. At Professor Torrey's suggestion and under his 

 direction I undertook to investigate the case. Very little could 

 be learned of the ancestry. The mother was apparently normal, 

 four years old. She had had but one kitten previous to this 

 one and that was said to have been polydactylous with some 

 deformity of the leg bones. The first kitten had been killed 

 and nothing further could be learned about it. The father 

 in the two cases is unknown. 



The only other recorded case of a syndactylous cat which I 

 have been able to find is that one noted by Freeland Howe, Jr. 

 ('02). This cat had syndactylous hind paws each bearing two 

 toes, and polydactylous fore paws, each with six toes. There 

 was no description of the condition of the syndactylous feet 

 and no account of the heredity. Very many cases of Polydactyly 

 occurring in cats have been recorded and a description of a 

 case of syndactyly should be of value as affording a basis for 

 comparison. In order to establish a working theory of the 

 causes of such abnormalities in the extremities it is neccessary 

 to have a record of the modifications of the abnormality which 

 occur. 



The significant features of this particular case of syndactyly 

 are the very obvious tendency to a pronounced distal fusion, 

 brought about by a partial obliteration of the central digits of 



65 



JOtRNAL OF MORPHOLOGY, VOL. 30, NO. 1 



