Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West, Florida, will find dozens of free-roaming cats, many of which have six toes. Hemingway was gifted his first polydactyl cat, named Snow White, by a ship captain. Sailors believed extra-toed cats were good luck because their wide paws made them superior mouse hunters on rocky ships.
The Felines of Whitehead Street
In the heart of Key West, Florida, the limestone estate at 907 Whitehead Street attracts visitors not only for its literary legacy but also for its distinctive animal residents. Dozens of free-roaming cats wander the lush gardens, lounge across vintage furniture, and doze in the warm tropical shade of the property where Ernest Hemingway lived during the 1930s. Among these animals, a conspicuous physical quirk stands out immediately: many possess extra toes on their paws, giving their feet the broad, oversized appearance of mittens.
While standard domestic cats possess eighteen digits—five on each front paw and four on each hind paw—many of the residents at the Hemingway House have six or even seven toes on their front feet, and sometimes extra digits on their back feet as well. This physical condition, known medically as polydactyly, has turned the museum grounds into one of the most famous living feline sanctuaries in the world.
Today, the colony maintains a steady population of roughly forty to sixty cats. Museum staff provide ongoing care, food, and veterinary oversight, allowing the descendants of Hemingway's original pets to inhabit the same sunlit verandas, writing studio steps, and limestone pathways that the Nobel Prize-winning author walked nearly a century ago.
Maritime Origins and Snow White
The story of Key West's polydactyl cats began during Hemingway's residency on the island, when a local sea captain named Stanley Dexter presented the author with a white kitten. Hemingway named the kitten Snow White. Dexter explained that polydactyl cats were prized among mariners, who considered them good-luck charms on long, perilous voyages across open water.
Sailors valued extra-toed cats for practical reasons as well as superstition. The wider stance afforded by additional digits was believed to provide superior traction and stability on pitching, storm-tossed decks. Furthermore, seafarers observed that these broader paws made the cats exceptionally skilled hunters, capable of tracking and capturing rodents that threatened cargo and food provisions inside the wooden hulls of sailing ships.
Because Key West was an active maritime hub centered on wrecking, salvage, and trade, ships frequently arrived carrying these seafaring cats. When Snow White settled into the Hemingway compound, she carried those maritime genetics into a quiet domestic environment, establishing a lineage that would outlive the author and flourish on the property for generations to come.
Understanding the Polydactyl Trait
Polydactyly is an inherited genetic variation caused by an autosomal dominant gene. This means that a cat only needs to inherit the gene from one parent to potentially exhibit extra digits. If a polydactyl cat mates with a standard cat, there is roughly a fifty percent chance that each kitten in the litter will inherit the physical trait.
Not every cat living on the Hemingway estate physically displays six toes, but genetic analysis and lineage records indicate that virtually all of them carry the underlying gene. Even the cats on the grounds with normal five-toed paws can pass the polydactyl trait to their offspring. The variation does not cause pain or disability; rather, it manifests as extra dewclaws or fully formed, functional side toes that give the paw a mitten-like silhouette.
Because the trait is harmless and celebrated by visitors, the museum makes no attempt to breed it out of the population. Instead, the colony serves as a rare, localized genetic reservoir where a naturally occurring mutation has been preserved and concentrated over decades within a relatively small geographic space.
Life and Work at the Key West Estate
Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, acquired the Whitehead Street property in 1931 after it had fallen into disrepair. The Spanish Colonial home had been constructed in 1851 by Asa Tift, a wealthy marine architect and salvage wrecker, who built it entirely from native limestone quarried directly from the site. The thick stone walls and wide covered porches provided natural cooling against the oppressive South Florida heat.
During his years at the house between 1931 and 1939, Hemingway enjoyed one of the most productive writing periods of his life. Working in a second-story studio converted from an old carriage house, he completed major literary works including *To Have and Have Not*, *Green Hills of Africa*, and *The Snows of Kilimanjaro*, as well as portions of *For Whom the Bell Tolls*. The secluded yard and its resident cats formed the backdrop to this intense creative output.
The property also saw the construction of Key West's very first in-ground swimming pool, excavated out of solid limestone at great financial expense while Hemingway was abroad covering the Spanish Civil War. The estate, with its lush vegetation and deep quarry pool, created an insulated haven where Hemingway's collection of animals could roam securely away from the bustle of the island's commercial docks.
Traditions, Names, and Grounds
In keeping with a custom started during Hemingway's lifetime, every cat residing on the property is given the name of a famous figure, artist, writer, or screen icon. Visitors touring the gardens can encounter felines bearing names such as Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, Pablo Picasso, and Tennessee Williams. This tradition offers staff and visitors a playful way to track individual animals and catalog their lineages across decades.
The grounds feature several historical curiosities adapted specifically for the cats. Among the most famous is a decorative garden fountain converted from an antique urinal that Hemingway salvaged from a local Key West tavern, Sloppy Joe's, during a renovation. Pauline Hemingway decorated the fixture with Spanish tiles and integrated it into the garden's plumbing, where it continues to serve as an unconventional freshwater drinking fountain for the free-roaming felines.
The property also maintains a small, dedicated cemetery on the grounds where deceased cats from the colony are laid to rest. Hand-painted concrete markers record their names, birth years, and dates of passing, underscoring the deep affection and formal stewardship the museum maintains toward its four-legged inhabitants.
The Federal Dispute Over Museum Cats
In the early 2000s, the Hemingway House cats became the subject of an unusual legal and bureaucratic battle involving the United States Department of Agriculture. Following a complaint, federal regulators argued that because the museum charged admission to the public and featured the cats in promotional literature, the felines constituted an exhibited animal collection subject to the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The government contended that the museum needed to obtain an exhibitor's license, confine the cats in cages at night, or construct higher fencing to prevent them from leaving the property. Museum administrators resisted, arguing that the cats were free-roaming historical residents rather than captive zoo animals, and that rigid containment would harm their quality of life and disrupt the historical character of the landmark.
After years of legal debate and veterinary evaluations, the dispute was resolved through compromises that allowed the cats to remain on the estate. The museum installed specialized elevated fencing around the perimeter to ensure the cats remained safely on the grounds while preserving their freedom to wander through the gardens, historic rooms, and writing studio undisturbed.
Key takeaways
•The Hemingway House in Key West is home to roughly 40 to 60 cats, many of which possess extra digits due to the genetic condition known as polydactyly.
•Ernest Hemingway received his first polydactyl kitten, Snow White, from a ship captain who prized extra-toed cats for their balance and hunting prowess on ships.
•Polydactyly is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, meaning even cats on the property with standard paws carry the gene and can pass it to future generations.
•All cats living at the museum continue a tradition of being named after famous historical figures, celebrities, and literary icons.