Hemingway's Cats

The famous Hemingway Cats are all descendants of Snowball, a cat belonging to Ernest Hemingway while he lived in Key West. Hemingway, the great writer of works such as ‘A Farewell to Arms’ and ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, was a great lover of cats. Snowball was a gift to the author from a ship’s captain who visited the island.

Before leaving, the captain made Hemingway aware of the strange mutation polydactyly, making Snowball have six toes. With time, the offspring of Snowball grew numerous and the descendants now roam Key West in great numbers. In his last will and testament, Hemingway made provisions for the Hemingway Museum to care for the cats. Still today staff at the museum are responsible for the well-being and healthcare of the cats.

Key West is an island, and because of that it is believed that most cats there are relatives of Snowball. There is also a high rate of polydactyly among the cats, just like in Hemingway’s day. In earlier years, there were so many cats around the museum that visitors were allowed to adopt them.
However, if you would like a descendant of the great novelist’s feline companion these days you are too late. Due to a spay/neuter program demanded by the island’s residents (as the cats were roaming a little too freely…) the number of Hemingway cats are now down to ‘manageable’ levels.

Museum staff was at a point accused of not taking good enough care of the cats and neglecting their obligations. In response to these allegations the Hemingway Museum has employed the services of a veterinarian to regularly visit the museum. The cats are also encouraged to stay on the museum grounds as much as possible.

So if you travel to the United States, be sure to visit the cats of Hemingway!

Images by Robert Crum (feature image), Marco Raaphorst and SofiaK

Sources

Wikipedia

The Ernest Hemingway Museum