My husband and I discovered that the Humane Society in our city has been overrun with cats, I think they have over 900 at this point. So we went down and rescued a little guy. He is solid gray, absolutely adorable, very laid back and affectionate. He purrs if you so much as touch him. He is also a polydactyl cat, meaning he has extra toes. Seven on each front paw, and five in each rear paw. We named him Riley. He likes our other two cats, Molly and Ethan, but they are still in the hissy pissy stage, and want nothing to do with this interloper. Except his tasty kitten chow. That can stay. It is easy to find the kitten, though, just listen for the room that hisses.

I did a little research on polydactyls, apparently they were favored back in ye olde days as ship cats, due to their increased dexterity, which gave them an advantage at climbing and rodent killing. They were also considered good luck, and Hemingway was fond of them. There are still polydactyl cats living on his estate today. Apparently, during the time of the witch trials, polydactyl cats were also suspected of being witches' familiars. Being as they are quite populous in the New England area, I imagine this caused a lot of harmless little old ladies a lot of undue hardship.

Along with the extra toes, 'mitten kittens' are also supposed to be large sturdy, hardy cats, with gentle dispositions and an easy going nature. This all fits Riley so far. He is only 3 months old, but already over half the size of our male tabby, Ethan. Riley also will let you do pretty much whatever you want with him, turn him upside down, pet is tummy, pull his ears, play with his toes, pull his tail (my 6 year old, not me), give him noogies, whatever. He doesn't care, he'll just sit there and purr. This is a very good sign with two crotchety older cats and a small child.

Everybody needs a kitten.