Ensconced with their loving caretakers inside the limestone-blocked former home of Ernest Hemingway, 54 cats are breathing sighs of relief after surviving Hurricane Irma.
The storm, which did considerably less damage to Key West than officials had predicted, did not affect the Spanish Colonial home, which happens to sit on the highest part of the island, some 16 feet above sea level.
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“The cats are accustomed to our voices and our care. We love them. They love us. We all hung out together,” said David Gonzales, curator of the Hemingway Home and Museum. “It’s a very comfortable place for the cats, very comfortable place for our employees.”
Perhaps the greatest revelation about the cats is the status of their toes: Not every one of the Hemingway felines has six toes, but the museum says “all carry the polydactyl gene.”
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