A Maine Coon kitten from Wisconsin has clawed its way into the record books, and it didn't even need to lift a paw - because it has 29 of them. Erebus Anomaly, a name that sounds like a rejected Marvel villain, has officially broken the Guinness World Record for most toes on a cat, surpassing the previous 28-toe record held since 2002 by a Canadian feline named Jake - and tied by Michigan's Toby back in March.

Erebus's astonishing toe count is the result of polydactyly, a genetic quirk that's apparently all the rage in Maine Coons, according to a 2016 study in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. His biological father was born with 24 toes - six per paw - which is six more than the standard feline issue. Erebus, born in March, took that to the extreme: eight toes on one paw, seven on the rest. That's one more toe than the record set by Jake in 2002, and a whole lot more than the average cat's 18.

But Erebus's journey to glory wasn't just a matter of counting digits. The kitten faced a near-death experience when his owners, Kendra Vandenbloomer and Hunter Nett of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, noticed he was breathing through his mouth. The diagnosis? An aspiration event - when food or liquid takes a wrong turn into the airways - leading to pneumonia. He was rushed to an emergency vet, placed in an oxygen machine, and put on medication. His lungs looked white on scans when they should have been black, which is not the kind of artistic statement you want from your internal organs.

Vandenbloomer called his recovery "definitely miraculous," and to prove he was fully healed, they had X-rays taken. Those X-rays turned out to be more than just medical documentation - they became crucial evidence for the Guinness World Records application. The organization, which curates over 40,000 records, officially bestowed the title of most toes on a cat to Erebus on 13 May.

"It's crazy to think that one of the scariest times in his life led right into the beginning of his world record journey," read a post on Erebus's social media account, run by his owners, who also operate a breeding cattery called BlueNorthern Maine Coons. When ABC's Danny New asked if Erebus might be rehomed, Vandenbloomer didn't hesitate: "He's staying with us. He's a gorgeous boy." Indeed, he's got the toes to prove it.