BONITA Extra-Toes Cat / Hemingway Polydactyl & Domestic Short Hair Mix Grand Rapids, MI

On March 21st I received this email from a wonderful woman who was looking for help with a stray she had befriended on the NW side of Grand Rapids:

“There has been a black cat in our neighborhood that no one recognizes. Some of the neighbors were feeding her. When informed that she was pregnant, we took her inside (last Monday 3/14). We confirmed the pregnancy with our vet. We weren't sure how far along she was, but decided to have her spayed. As my vet wasn't comfortable doing the procedure, we made an appointment with C-SNIP for today. Unfortunately, she had six kittens on Friday night. Five of them perished within an hour, as she still hadn't produced much milk. Working with a rescue friend, the 6th made it until yesterday afternoon. This led to serious concerns about her health, and this evening we confirmed a diagnosis of Feline Leukemia. Because of the other cats in our house, we will be unable to keep her, and the tiny bathroom we've had her isolated in seems cruel. She's a sweet cat and lonely. I'm afraid we're not going to be able to keep her beyond the end of the month. We will continue our efforts to find her a home.”

Understanding how distraught Elaine was about her inability to provide a permanent home for this kitty in need, we made arrangements to bring her in to the vet clinic on the 24th. When this cheerful charcoal girl bounded out of her travel carrier that morning I was immediately struck by the multitude of toes this polydactyl princess was in possession of! Having recently taken in a tabby cat with tantalizing tootsies myself, I knew I wanted to name this gorgeous girl after my very own poly-phalanxed Benitoe, so my gal pal Erin and I came up with Bonita; this also means ‘pretty little one’.
Since the two year old (born in March of 2014) was definitely lacking in mammary gland development I was able to safely spay her, something that I so wish would have been done long ago before she had go through a pregnancy and the loss of her offspring. She cruised through surgery without a hitch and recovered very well, bouncing back with ease and eagerness, what we would soon come to know as her typical modus operandi. I suspect that any difficulty that gets thrown her way is seen as a minor obstacle to overcome, like whatever caused her to break her tail midway prior to her arrival; she is one tough cookie and she doesn’t crumble easily!

Once at Big Sid’s Bonita showed us another side of her buoyant, bold self—that of a sassy, saucy girl who feels that she is better suited to single life—as in living alone, without 80+ other cats to cramp her style and invade her space. Realistically that is about the only luxury we cannot currently offer our brash and bossy girl, so instead we try to please her by giving her as much one-on-one time with her human caretakers as she likes, and plenty of room to roam without rubbing elbows with the other residents. Luckily our facility is two stories of cubbies, walkways and hidey-holes so if she wishes she can go off by herself and not have to associate with the other cats, who for the most part, leave Miss High-and Mighty alone:) She can be quite the diva, but honestly, we don’t blame her one bit for being outwardly opinionated, exercising her right to reign supreme; Bonita deserves to be treated like a queen.

A very special ‘thank you’ to a fabulous five year old little boy named Terrance who doted on this kitty he called ‘Chocolate’, due to her sweetness and dark coloring. We know you are very fond of her and we don’t want you to worry at all; our volunteers are taking really good care of your girl and are making sure she is as happy as possible. She is safe and sound and we are all thrilled to have her around!