In Harrison, Arkansas, a kitten with two faces was born in the laundry room of the home belonging to cat owner Ariel Contreras. As Ariel started to do her laundry just four days ago, the mother cat started meowing and moments later, one kitten with two faces was born among the other kittens in the litter.
According to Ariel’s Facebook postings, she named the kitten Harvey after the fictional villain from the Batman movies – perhaps the perfect name for a cat with two faces? Sadly, Harvey only survived four days when Ariel posted the kitten had died.
Harvey is known as a Janus cat after the two-faced Roman god Janus; a cat with a rare genetic mutation caused by excess protein production in the womb. Except for the skull, the kitten just has one of everything just like a regular feline. Most kittens born this way have a low survival rate and die within the first 12 hours after birth.
There are however exceptions to the brief survival rate of the Janus cat. In 1999 a gray two-faced kitten named “Frank and Louie” born in Massachusetts lived for 15 years. In 2012, the cat made the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest surviving Janus cat.
Rest in peace little one.
(Photos via Facebook)
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