Can a kitten with two faces survive?
Although these rare kittens don’t usually survive for more than one day, a two-faced cat named Frank and Louie defied the odds and lived for 15 years, even appearing in the Guinness World Records book in 2006.
Is this a kitten with two faces real?
The so-called “Janus cat” was born in a litter of six kittens at a farm in Albany, Ore., on May 20, much to the surprise of new owners Kyla and B.J. King. The cat had two noses, four eyes, two mouths and one brain stem — the result of a congenital defect known as cranial duplication.
What is a cat with two faces called?
Two-faced cats are known as “Janus” cats, named after the Roman god Janus, who had two faces — one looking into the past and the other into the future.
Is the two-faced cat still alive?
Most Janus cats don’t live longer than a day; however one Janus cat is known to have defied those odds: a cat named Frank and Louie lived 15 years until he died in 2014. He was named the world’s longest surviving Janus cat by the The Guinness Book of World Records, according to KOIN-TV.
Can a cat live with two heads?
The disorder, also known as diprosopia, can cause part or all of an individual’s face to be duplicated on its head. It has been recorded multiple times in the domestic cat (Felis catus), but few of the resulting two-faced kittens survive into adulthood, Wilcox said.
Is it possible for a cat to have two heads?
Named for the Roman god Janus, who was usually portrayed as having two faces, domestic cats with two faces are extremely rare, noted Leslie Lyons of the University of Missouri’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, who specializes in feline genetics.
What causes a kitten to be born with two faces?
It’s believed that the kitten has a birth defect known as diprosopus, a rare condition that causes the duplication of heads. Cats with this defect are often called Janus cats, the local publication says, after a Roman god with two faces.
Why are there two-faced cats?
Janus cats are believed to be born with two faces as a result of the kitten producing an excess of the protein Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) whilst in the womb. This protein plays a role in the formation of the skull and face during the embryonic stage of development. It is rare for a Janus kitten to survive.
Do two-faced cats have two brains?
The cat has one brain, so both faces act in unison. Two of his eyes — the outermost ones — are normal, while the middle eye is larger but doesn’t function.