what's new, Pussycat ?

Mr. Suspicious from across the road

Did you know that polydactyl cats are considered good luck by sailors? They were common on the sailing ships coming in and out of colonial Boston harbor and are seen quite frequently in New England and northern New York.
Geographers often trace back early settlers' origins in the midwestern states to a New England home using cultural items. One of these items are the mitten footed cats. If there is a significant number of polydactyl cats in an area, chances are some of the folks who settled there brought their feline friends with them from the New England  area. Cats were a valued commodity both on shipboard and in farming communities for rodent control, so settlers packed their cats along with their household goods when moving west.