A kitten called Pancake has captured hearts online after going viral on TikTok because of his unusual front paws that make him look as if he's wearing mittens.
The post was shared last Friday by his owner under the username Newsprojoe. It shows Pancake running across his living room and zooms in on his paws, which have extra thumbs that make them look like human hands covered with fluffy mittens.
Pancake's paws are shaped like winter mittens because the feline has a condition called polydactyly, which means he was born with extra toes on his paws.
Pancake's owner, Joe, told Newsweek: "Pancake is a Maine coon, and his brother, Chuck Bass, who is also a Maine coon, is the kitten that gets spooked in the video. The two of them keep each other busy playing all day.
"The reaction to their videos has been amazing. So often social media can be filled with negativity, and to see such an overwhelmingly positive response to our cats has been incredible. People from around the globe have reached out about them, and I'm glad they are putting smiles on the faces of so many."
Viewers of the video fell in love with the unusual cat. Some of them, who have had similar cats, compared him to Spider-Man for his supposed ability to climb with ease thanks to his special paws, just like the comic superhero.
Cats usually have five toes on their front paws and four on their back ones, according to the pet wellness experts at Rover. But polydactyl cats have at least six toes on one or more of their paws, and they may also have elongated toes.
Polydactyly is an inherited genetic mutation, Rover says, that your cat can inherit if just one of its parents has the gene, no matter which parent. Moreover, if one parent cat is polydactyl, there's a 40 to 50 percent chance it will have polydactyl kittens.
There are three different types of polydactyly. Postaxial means that a cat has extra toes on the pinky side or the outside of its paws. Preaxial means extra toes are on the inside of the paws and look a little like a thumb. It is the most common form of polydactyly. And mesoaxial means an extra toe sits in the center of the paw. Most polydactyl cats have extra toes on their front paws.
The video quickly went viral on TikTok and has so far received over 2.5 million views and 293,100 likes on the platform.
One user, Carolferucci23, commented: "Polydactyl cat! They're the best! They climb like Spider-Man!" DennyPete joked: "Bro wears the same shoe size as Shaq."
Diana wrote: "I'm dying to see him make biscuits." Dude said: "The softest boxing gloves in the west!" Jenni Derring added: "The real 'murder mittens!"
Newsweek could not verify the details of the case and reached out to Newsprojoe for comment via TikTok chat.
Update 8/30/23 5:25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comments from the owner, Joe, and new pictures.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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