Cats or Hobbits?

 In a book called "The Hobbit", J.R.R. Tolkien described little creatures with big furry feet and called them Hobbits.  He claimed these hairy little bigfoots were like humans.  I think he might have gotten that part wrong. 

The hairy footed Hobbits hanging around my place are more like cats.  Except for their feet.  Some of them have very strange feet.  The old timers used to tell yarns about these creatures and called them double-pawed.  Having finally seen these creatures with my own eyes, I know they don't have double paws.  They have extra digits.

 The first one of these creatures I ever met was Mama.  Her front paws were almost like hands, complete with big thumbs.  Apparently, the funny paws run in her family.  Since then I've seen quite a few.  The shapes and sizes of these creatures' strange hands or paws can be big or small and the number of extra digits varies.  Some extra digits are small and some are humongous. 

Blue's front paws were huge.  They looked comical on such a regal cat.  But they weren't so funny when she swiped at me.  The extra digits and claws are probably an advantage in fights or for holding on to things.  The way these cats use their big paws looks so very human.  But the big paws are a slight disadvantage in the grace department.  When the cats are scrambling around, sometimes the extra digits seem to get in the way.  The extra digits also give some of these cats an undignified bovine stride.

All these otherworldly creatures that I know, except for one, have extra digits only on their front paws.  The exception is Frodo.  All four of her paws are huge and have multiple extra digits.  From a werecat kitten, she's grown into a long legged, lean cat.  And those big feet at the ends of her long legs really look strange.  As she's loping across the room, the big feet, big eyes and calico coloring make her resemble a toy giraffe.

I've heard a theory that in colonial times, sailors brought cats along on ships to control the rat population.  And that they preferred these big footed cats because their balance was better.  Supposedly this is why big foot cats are more common around coastal areas.  The writer, Ernest Hemingway, also had a collection of big foot cats.  His Florida house is now open to tourists and descendents of his big foot cats still roam the grounds.

But are these creatures with the big furry feet really cats?  Or are they Hobbits?