|
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum
is home to approximately sixty cats. Normal cats have five
front toes and four back toes. About half of the cats at
the museum are polydactyl, which means they have extra
toes. Most cats have extra toes on their front feet and
sometimes on their back feet as well. Sometimes it looks
as if they are wearing mittens because they appear to have
a thumb on their paw.
Ernest Hemingway was given a six-toed cat by a ship's
captain and some of the cats who live on the museum
grounds are descendants of that original cat. Key West is
a small island and it is possible that many of the cats on
the island are related. Our cats are not a particular
breed, but appear to be a combination of various
breeds-sort of "Heinz 57" if you will. They are all
shapes, sizes, colors and personalities.
 The following are some commonly asked questions about our
cats:
Q. Who pays for the care and feeding of the cats?
A. The museum is a privately owned business, and the care
and feeding of the cats is one of the many expenses of the
business.
Q. How many cats live here?
A. There are about sixty cats living at the Hemingway
Museum. They come in all sizes, shapes, colors and
personalities.
Q. Who feeds the cats?
A. The cats are fed by caretakers of the museum. They are
given excellent quality cat food. They are
occasionally given treats of canned food or
catnip, and a few are given canned food daily due to tooth
problems resulting from old age or injury. Well-meaning
visitors are not encouraged to feed the cats, since their
diet is supervised.
Q. Do you have a veterinarian?
A. Yes, we do. If one of the cats need medical attention,
they are taken to the vet by a staff member. Routine
procedures such as ear mite treatment, flea spraying, and
worming are performed here at the museum.
Annual vaccinations are
administered by Dr. Lisa Bramson and her staff from All
Animal Clinic here on site. We also have a mobile
vet, Dr. Edie Clark, who visits our location weekly and deals
routine animal health maintenance.
Recently the Pfizer Company
has come forward to provide us with
Revolution®
for our cats to
protect them from
heartworm, fleas and other harmful parasites.
Q. Do the cats get their shots?
A. Yes, the vet comes to the museum to administer their
yearly shots. The whole procedure is
somewhat like a "cat rodeo," with cats being rounded up by
means of treats, and the vet administering shots as fast
as possible with the help of staff members. The job must
be done rapidly, since the cats soon sense that something
is amiss and will begin howling warnings, and slinking and
scurrying in all directions. The vast majority are
vaccinated the first day and their names are checked off
on a list to avoid confusion. The vet returns the
following week to inoculate the few who are missed the
first time.
Q. Are the cats fixed?
A. Yes, the vast majority are spayed (female) or neutered
(male). There are a couple of females and a few males who
are not fixed because we like to have one or two litters
of kittens per year. This ensures that we'll continue to
have descendants of the Hemingway cat line to replace the
few cats who die each year due to illness, old age, or
accidents, but keeps the number of cats at about sixty
residents.
Q. Do you still have a waiting list for kittens? Do you
sell the kittens?
A. No, kittens are no longer available. In the past,
before most of the cats were fixed, kittens were sometimes
available. This is no longer true, since only replacement
kittens are born each year. Those kittens are kept on the
grounds to ensure that we continue to have our cat
population.
Q. Are the extra toes (polydactylism) caused by
inbreeding?
A. Yes they are, putting aside the possible negative
connotations, close relationship is the strategy behind
cat breeding programs which concentrate on a particular
trait. For example, the Siamese breed originated from a
pair of cats brought to America around 1890. They became
very fashionable in the 1920's and inbreeding caused ill
health, so breeders were forced to use more care in mating
selection, which results in the breed as we know it today.
The cats here on the grounds who are allowed to reproduce
do have the polydactyl gene, however.
Q. Do the cats all have names?
A. Yes, all of the cats are named. Cats are capable of
learning and responding to their names, particularly if
they have an affectionate relationship with the person who
calls them. The museum maintains a complete list of the
cats who live here.
Q. Why are there so many cats in Key West?
A. During the shipping days, and before the days of
pesticides, cats were kept to catch rats and mice. The
weather is mild here and cats can live comfortably
outdoors all year around; they are also quite prolific so
they are numerous. There are local residents who feed many
stray cats and there is a profusion of restaurants and
guest houses where the cats can panhandle for hand-outs.
The local Friends of Animals chapter has instituted a
"Spay-a -Stray" program to help prevent unwanted kittens. |
![[CLICK Here to More About this Hemingway Cat...]](../images/cats/gray_cat_thumb.jpg)
![[CLICK Here to See More About the Hemingway Cats...]](../images/cats/simone_thumb.jpg)
![[CLICK Here to More About this Hemingway Cat...]](../images/cats/laying_cat_thumb.jpg)
![[CLICK Here to More About this Hemingway Cat...]](../images/cats/charlie_chaplin_thumb.jpg)