A litter of four rescue kittens were born without any toes.

Leo, Clara, George and Oberon, who are in the care of the rescue group Motor City Trappers, have no toes and the claws on their front paws are crooked.

The kittens are thought to have been born this way as when they were rescued there was no sign of injury.

Having no toes does not prevent the moggies from running, jumping and playing around like most kittens.

But the litter would have struggled to survive in the wild.

Kristy Thornton, 29, a volunteer for Motor City Trappers in Detroit, Michigan, USA, said: "They would never have been able to survive in the wild.

"Their crooked claws would basically mean they're unable to hunt.

"Aside from that and the fact that they're not the best at balancing, they're perfectly healthy."

Kristy received a call on June 19 about a litter of feral kittens in need of rescuing.

It was only after she picked them up and brough them back for an assessment that she realised they were missing toes.

Kristy said: "When I first went to pick the kittens up, they were feral and spent a lot of the time hissing at me.

"But after just a few days around humans, they have become the sweetest little kittens."

Motor City Trappers also took care of the kittens' mother by neutering her but she was far too feral to keep or to be put up for adoption.

Kirsty said: "We usually don't like to separate the mother from her kittens that young but there is a limited socialisation window.

"We do a lot of TNRs (Trap, Neuter, Release) at Motor City Trappers as there are quite a few colonies nearby with feral cats.

"These cats are not suitable for fostering or adoption, so we only interact with them to provide them with medical care and then leave them to live their lives."

The kittens are now eight weeks old and will be put up for adoption at 12 weeks.