A Maine coon kitten named Erebus Anomaly has officially broken the Guinness World Record for the most toes on a cat, boasting a staggering 29 digits. The previous record of 28 toes had stood for 24 years.
Erebus, who was born in March, has 11 extra toes compared to a typical cat, which usually has 18 toes in total—five on each front paw and four on each back paw. Guinness verified that one of his back paws has eight toes, while the other three paws each have seven.
Polydactyly and Early Health Scare
The extra digits are the result of a genetic condition known as polydactyly, the same condition that affected the previous record-holder, a rescue cat named Toby. However, Erebus's journey to the record books was not without its challenges. He survived a near-fatal case of pneumonia, which developed after an aspiration event—when something like food or liquid ends up in the airways instead of the stomach.
His owners, Kendra Vandenbloomer and Hunter Nett from Wisconsin, USA, rushed him to emergency care after noticing he was breathing through his mouth. The complication led to pneumonia, treatment with medication, and time in an oxygen machine. Vandenbloomer and Nett described the turnaround as “definitely miraculous,” according to the Guardian.
X-Rays Doubled as Evidence
During the health crisis, X-rays revealed that Erebus's lungs “were supposed to be black but were completely white,” Vandenbloomer said. Fortunately, he recovered, and those same X-rays later played a key role in the Guinness application, serving as evidence of his condition.
Erebus was officially awarded the title on May 13, according to Guinness’s website. A message on a social media account set up for him read: “It’s crazy to think that one of the scariest times in his life led right into the beginning of his world record journey.”
Record-Breaking Paws
Erebus’s biological father was also born with six toes on each paw, totalling 24—six more than a normal cat. This set the stage for Erebus to arrive with an even more extreme set of paws. “He’s staying with us,” Vandenbloomer said. “He’s a gorgeous boy.”
