Diamond Absolutes

I’m not a fan of intentionally breeding for polydactyly - especially when going for as many toes as possible. While it may not have the same innate health issues as other novel traits it isn’t without risk.

Ingrown nails are a significant risk with polydactyl cats as they often aren’t able to scratch with (some of) the extra digits to wear them down and peel off the outer shell, the atypical placement can also make them hard to see and easy to miss during routine nail clips if you don’t know to look for them or aren’t keeping count.

Sometimes the extra digits aren’t fully attached, instead fixed to the limb only by flesh, making them susceptible to being caught and torn off during playtime or fighting.

You can also run into issues where the extra digits further - or even the normally placed digits - develop with other abnormalities, because where there’s one it isn’t uncommon for their to be more, so sometimes we’ll see polydactyl cats that also have syndactyly or a short toe or they can’t extend/retract the nail on a toe, etc.

Cats that are naturally polydactyl are adorable and it’s fine to love them and even want to adopt or find one, it’s a trait that does occur semi-regularly in feral/stray populations and these cats can (and typically do) live full and normal lives! You just have to be a little more on top of nail clipping.