We got her from the animal shelter in Quincy a month ago. See those "thumbs" on her feet? She's polydactyl. The OED defines polydactyl as:
- Having more than the usual number of digits (especially more than five) on a foot or hand, either as a congenital abnormality or (in certain prehistoric animals) as a normal condition.
The etymology is Greek, though it comes by the way of the French polydactyle. Poly is the Greek prefix from the Greek polu-, from polus, meaning much, many. ]
The OED's definition of dactyl:
- Forming adjectives designating animals having digits of the number or type specified by the first element, as monodactyl adj., pachydactyl adj. and n., and nouns denoting such animals.
It comes from French and the Latin dactylus, and from the Greek daktulos, meaning finger.
Polydactyl makes me think of pterodactyl, the flying dinosaur, whose name is derived from the Greek pteron, meaning feather, wing.
I think Bast would like to eat a pterodactyl, provided it would hold still for her.