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Kitty has two faces

Xeni Jardin at 12:23 pm Wed, Sep 28, 2011

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This Massachusetts cat with two faces has become the world's longest surviving so called "janus" feline at 12 years of age. The cat, who is named Frank and Louie, has two mouths, two noses and three eyes. Frank and Louie have one brain, so the faces react in unison. (REUTERS/David Niles)

Update: via the comments, interview with the owner and video of the cat(s), who appear to be very happy and well taken care of.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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  • http://www.xeni.net/ Xeni Jardin

    Chaser: http://boingboing.net/2011/09/28/baby-pandas-need-a-nap-photo.html

    • Antinous / Moderator

      Chaser?  I hate pandas.  They’re like naked, vegetarian juggalos.

  • http://twitter.com/nzmrmn nzmrmn

    FFS, can you NSFL tag/hide stuff like this below the jump please?

    • http://www.xeni.net/ Xeni Jardin

      Sorry, I honestly didn’t find it upsetting. I’ll reconsider next time. The cat(s) is/are healthy and happy, not injured…

      • Lobster

        He (they?) isn’t (aren’t?) as bad as the faceless cat.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Abdul-Alhazred/100000416725737 Abdul Alhazred

          It’d be interesting if this cat is a pronoun problem, seeing as it has only one brain. It’s a living embodiment of the philosophical discussion of the self, in a way. In the scientific sense, it seems easy; one identity per brain, please. But if you were the one who had two faces, maybe you’d call the defunct one “Louie” too?

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Oliver-Schmieding/100000452523362 Oliver Schmieding

        this is not upsetting at all, he’s cute.
        opportunity missed, though: his names should have been euclid and picasso ;)

  • ookluh

    I am so, so thankful that this is not an animated gif

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7OL6GKTE55IAZU3GXUWBNUX7DA B Zimm

    There’s a great chapter about the varieties of this anomaly, from janus faces to double-headedness, in the book Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us About Development and Evolution. 

  • Brainspore

    I’ve met a lot of two-faced cats, they’re all “purr…purrr…purrr… BITE.” That’s why I’m a dog person.

  • PhosPhorious

    Wasn’t there a story not long ago about a cat with no face?  Couldn’t this cat donate one of his faces to that cat?

    Incidence of the collywobbles would probably decline.

  • Ashen Victor

    One face enought for me, please.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Abdul-Alhazred/100000416725737 Abdul Alhazred

    Seeing this cat alive and seemingly healthy, I think it’s a unicorn chaser in its own right. Like stated, most animals affected by this type of defect die in early age.
    But then, I thought the Chase No Face cat was awesome in this sense too.

    • Brainspore

      You can’t have a two-faced unicorn chaser because that would be a bicorn.

    • Lobster

      Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s hating on these guys or Chase.  Some people just get an involuntary gut reaction to seeing certain things without warning.  They don’t mean anything by it, it’s just an honest reaction.

  • lknope

    I guess this cat got really lucky and has 18 lives!

  • Steak

    Paging Spider Jerusalem…

  • http://www.xeni.net/ Xeni Jardin

    Very sorry to anyone who was icked out and upset. Other kinds of images upset me, but this did not, I thought it was weird but not OH MY GOD YUCK NOOOOO. I will tweak my empathy settings next time.

    • ookluh

      I’ll speak for myself and say my reaction was less “OH MY GOD YUCK” and more “damn, that cat is going to be in a Guillermo del Torro-esque dream in my not-too distant future.”  Just a little disturbing.  I’m sure he is indeed a sweet cat.

  • April Arcus

    “Frank and Louie have one brain, so the faces react in unison.”
    I think you mean “has one brain”. Your failure to conjugate your verb with the correct number feature clearly demonstrates your internalized teratophobia. You should genuflect.

    • CH

      Yes, “has” inded, as that is only one cat. It isn’t a two headed cat, where it actually would be cojoined twins and therefore two cats (and two brains but one body). This cat’s face has a birth defect, causing the face to be duplicated. I would assume this is due to Sonic Hedgehog protein not working as it should (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diprosopus, ahh, yeah… that entry even mentions “Frank and Louie”).

      But really nice to see that the kitty has been able to live for so long!

  • Donald Petersen

    I’ll go so far as to say that this is the cutest cat I’ve seen in ages.  The single brain takes it immediately from “horror show” to “nifty extra features” for me.

    Chase, however… bless his heart, I don’t wanna see that little dude again.

  • Sam Feinson

    That’s neat, but does it eat geckos and chain smoke Russian cigarettes?

    • SonOfSamSeaborn

      I’m having a hell of a time trying to remember what you’re talking about. It’s killing me. Bear with me.

      EDIT: Got it. Steak made a Spider Jerusalem comment above.

  • http://www.xeni.net/ Xeni Jardin

    I loved Chase, too. But I can understand people finding that image upsetting. 

  • http://profiles.google.com/jon.scott Jonathan Scott

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrHk1wLS3ig

  • N M

    Video of the cat and interview of the owner here:

    http://www.telegram.com/article/20110927/NEWS/109279895/1116#

    The creepiest part for me is the fact that it uses one eye from each face to see with; the center eye isn’t properly formed, so he can’t see with it.

  • SeeChao

    I want one, Does it smoke cigarettes?

  • snowmentality

    Awww, kitty! So fluffy! Extra whiskers and nosie! I bet he meows in unison too. That would be the cutest thing EVER.

    The video linked by N M shows Frank and Louie to be a very happy, adorable cat(s) — running around, batting at toys, snuggling with his owner. His owner says when he eats, Frank eats the food and Louie sniffs along. D’awwwwww.

  • http://twitter.com/petdance Andy Lester

    The Aquabats approve.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3SjtZLV-QM

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=640537025 Jennifer Kanis

    Gimmie. This. Cat.  My cat Spector has one ear and I love him so much. Rescue cats rule. 

  • Drabula

    I don’t find it disturbing either. I think he’s precious. I bet he’s a lovey sugar baby.

  • Kaffenated

    Well, you know what they say – two heads are better than one. 

    Can I borrow that cat for Halloween?

  • http://lectiblog.blogspot.com/ lecti

    I found the faceless cat disturbing.  This one is actually charming.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dwight.friesen Dwight David Friesen

    Reminds me of Rob Bottin’s excellent work on The Thing.

  • woodly

    I can haz one face?
    No?  Now kitteh twice as sad.
    Can haz hate your face.

  • Nadreck

    Well, if Hell can have a two-headed dog as a guardian then I suppose that LOLcats can have a two-headed cat.

  • Mariné Pérez

    I’m surprised that no one has mentioned that this cat has basically been taken straight out of “Transmetropolitan”. :)

  • tstillwater

    The Reuters article should be attributed to Zach Howard:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-cat-twofaced-idUSTRE78Q6FV20110927

  • tstillwater

    I get it now… the photographer is D. Niles. Anyway, nice cat!