Extra-Toed Cat Prepares To Help Deaf South African Man Sail Around The World

I was under the impression that cats hated water.

When I was but a wee boy, I remember walking down the street and having a cat follow me. It was a pretty cool cat by all accounts. Black, smooth, yellow eyes — she was beautiful. I guess it had rained the night before and there was a puddle on the sidewalk that the cat was, under no circumstances, stepping in. So, instead of, you know, walking on the grass, she leaped onto my leg. Her claws pierced my mesh shorts. I let out an effeminate yelp. Thankfully, there was no one around to judge me.

The cat hung on to the skin on my leg until I crossed the puddle at which point she pushed herself off me, landed gracefully on her paws, and began grooming herself. I was left with little dignity and claw marks on my legs that itched for hours.

I'm not sure how this all ties into an article about a cat on a sailboat, but here we are.

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When you think of the perfect partner to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat with, who do you think of?

For me, it'd be someone who knows how to circumnavigate the globe on a sailboat. I like the idea of sailing around the world, but I have absolutely no nautical knowledge in my brain whatsoever. I would just be there for the cool pictures.

Okay, who would the WORST partner to circumnavigate the globe be?

I have a short list:
1. The dude who was supposed to be watching for icebergs on the Titanic
2. A cat

The first is obvious. As for the feline, I couldn't imagine an animal more out of place around large bodies of water than a house cat.

Meet Strauss von Skattebol of Rebelpawz, or Skatty, for short. He's the world's greatest sailor cat.

Skatty is prepping to circumnavigate the globe with his owner and captain, Paul Thompson...but there's a catch!

You see, Thompson is entirely deaf. This is where Skatty plays an important role.

"I am totally deaf, and Skatty is my ears. Without any training, he has twigged that I don’t hear and of his own accord he lets me know if a boat comes alongside, people are at my door (when ashore) and when my phone receives text messages," explains Paul Thompson.

How cool is that!?

The two split their living time between the sailboat, La Chica, and a small flat at his office.

Thompson says that Skatty is great on the 32-foot boat but is still learning about life on the sea.

Skatty is still finding his "sea paws" and has fallen overboard ONLY once.

"I was expecting it as he had insisted on going out on the bumpkin and so I was on hand and ready to rescue him," said Thompson.

"He was in the water for about two minutes and it was cold; it took about two hours of TLC and warmth for him to recover and he was somewhat subdued for the rest of the day," he added.

"Skatty is still very much in learning mode, but by the end of the New Zealand summer, we should have made a sea cat of him."

So how does a cat handle itself out in the open sea? Better than I would.

“To date, he has only been out sailing twice. The first time for two weeks and just recently we returned from six weeks of sailing. He has got to the point that he is happy onboard the boat, but not yet to the point that he is totally unbothered about actually being under sail," says Thompson.

Skatty was born with one more toe on each his paws (yes, that's a thing), which makes him the perfect sailing cat.

"Skatty is a polydactyl cat (extra toes on each paw) which is what ship’s cat traditionally are. The old-time sailors believed that the big polydactyl paws gave them a better grip on the deck and also made them better mousers. So for me as a sailor, it was very satisfying to have a polydactyl cat," says Thompson.

I had no idea this was a thing 'til today. That's so cool.

This isn't Thompson's first sailor cat.

"I took Tommy in when his owners (a former Netherlands Ambassador to South Africa) ended their posting in South Africa and were going home to the Netherlands. They thought he’d be happier in South Africa than in Holland," explained Thompson.

"As it turned out, he only spent the first three years of his life in South Africa, for the remaining 15 years he spent sailing with me and we were anywhere but in South Africa," he notes.

Interestingly, Thompson, who has been deaf since the age of two, believes most cats would be "perfectly content" at sea or at anchor.

I'll be honest. As someone with exactly zero sailing experience, I find it hard to believe cats are perfectly content at sea. However, I know I'm out of my element here, so I'll take the advice from the guy who's been sailing around the world with felines his whole life.

And apparently, cats on the ocean are really therapeutic for humans.

"Having a cat onboard forces you to slow down and take life at your cat’s pace. Invariably that is a good thing as we are all far too busy rushing around," notes Thompson.

"Skatty wants to know about everything and in satisfying his curiosity, I learn to see things in a new light or from a different perspective. Also, the love of a cat is a very special and precious thing. Once earned it is forever, but you do have to earn it."

Are you convinced? Are you inspired?

Have you quit your job, moved to a coastal town, adopted a cat and irresponsibly bought a very expensive boat you don't know how to sail? I sure hope so. If not, hopefully you have a newfound respect for a cat's ability to navigate the globe on a sailboat.

Either way, if you enjoyed this story, give it a like and a share.