This gives them the appearance of a shorthaired cat with a fluffy tail. While regular polydactyl cats have duplicated toes, cats with the gene for RH have a form which converts the dew claw into a finger. The effect of the RH gene doesn't stop there though. The cat finds it more comfortable to sit back on its haunches, like a squirrel, than to crouch like a normal cat. Crouching on all four legs puts its chest is closer to the ground than normal and probably puts a strain on the spine as well as on the deformed forelegs.
Cats are very adaptable creatures.
Because of the inequality in the size of their legs, RH cats have peculiar ways of getting about. Those with a moderate form might compensate for their vestigial forelegs by learning to bound on their hind legs like a kangaroo. The hind legs become well muscled due to being the main form of locomotion and the tail may be used as a support when the cat sits upright. RH cats with less severe forms of the condition can climb by bracing themselves or pushing themselves upwards with their back legs and gripping with the claws of their front paws. Unlike squirrels, they are not agile once up in a tree and they have great difficulty climbing down - a normal cat's forelegs act as shock absorbers when it lands, but an RH cat has no shock absorbers and its chest and head will hit the ground.