Is The Two-Faced Kitten Born In Oregon Dead?
Two-faced kitten. Picture published under fair use principles.
Little Deucy was one of three kittens born on Tuesday in Amity, Oregon. She was born on 6/11 at 6:11 am, which should have been some kind of sign of good luck. But her life wasn’t meant to be. Deucy is a two-faced kitten. Known as a Janus cat, the newborn had four eyes, two noses and two mouths. After her birth, her owner Stephanie Durkee took the kitten to a vet, who said the rare kitten was in good condition overall.
Unfortunately, another two-faced kitten named Harvey, born in the southern U.S., has been confused with Deucy. According to the YouTube page I’ve linked below, comments say it was Harvey who died early Thursday morning. The family insists Deucy is still doing well.
But according to a news report Stephanie is said to have called their station on Thursday morning saying Deucy had died peacefully that morning.
Two other healthy kittens were born to the mother cat. Stephanie had been having to syringe feed Deucy every two hours, as the mother cat rejected the tiny kitten. This happens quite often in the animal world when a kitten is born sick or deformed. Survival of the fittest. It’s a mother cats nature to provide for those kittens she feels will survive. Apparently she didn’t think Deucy was long for this world. Hopefully, with Stephanie’s help and lots of prayers, little Deucy will survive.
Here’s a YouTube clip showing the two-faced kitten.
Or is Deucy dead? A comment made by the person to post the video was made at around 11 p.m. Eastern time Thursday night saying:
“It seems to be going fine. I have seen that some people seem to think that this is the kitten who died after 2 days. His name was Harvey,, and from the southern part of US. The kitten Deucy…is doing quite well.”
Situation like these drive me crazy in an effort to separate fact from rumor. It’s very confusing to find such conflicting reports, and I hate not knowing who to believe. It’s quite common in the world of reporting for one news source to break a story, then everyone else who writes to follow with different words basically stating the same thing.
I really hope little Deucy is alive, as I’ve done a few articles on two-faced cats in the past. They can be found here:
Writing about two-faced kittens and cats was an education. I’d never heard of such a thing until I heard of the first story a few years ago.
I hope the owner of little Deucy will come forward and set the record straight.
Readers, have you heard anything on Deucy? Is she alive?
She just won’t have any quality of life will she? and I find that really sad 🙁 she will probably be taken here there and everywhere 🙁 I know if I ever ended up with a cat like that (which I wouldn’t because every cat I’ve ever had has been neutered, male and female) I would protect her from the world and no one would know she existed I would want her to be loved just like every cat we’ve ever had.
Now that is what I like to read 😉 Exactly what I would do. I would keep her a secret and if there was any sign of distress or serious health problem I would reluctantly euthanise. I just feel that is the best way. That has to be a time when euthanasia is best, sad though it is.
That poor little soul, I can’t help wishing he/she just goes to sleep while still so young and doesn’t wake up because I fear for what sort of life he/she will have as a “freak of nature” if already his/her existance is known worldwide. If this had happened to a cat/kitten in our family the last thing we’d think of doing would be videoing the poor creature and posting it on youtube or anywhere else, or of phoning news stations. It’s voyeurism at it’s worst.
I think I feel that she should be (a) genuinely loved and then (b) humanely and tenderly euthanised. That is my gut feeling. It just does not feel right doing this.
When I first saw the video the other day my thought was I hope if the kitten survives she doesn’t become exploited like Grumpy cat is!
Yes, me too. Two-faced cats are extremely vulnerable although some survive quite well. Personally, I would just quietly care for them and get a good vet’s advice. Should we euthanise a two-faced kitten? I don’t know. That possibility does cross my mind.
There’s an older janus cat who’s owner luckily doesn’t allow for any kind of exploitation – I just saw one small simple interview once. I forget the name of the cat.
The older Janus cat is called Frankandlouis I think.
Well, I’ll tell you I am bloody pleased to hear that. Thanks for reassuring me, Marc.
Well, I’m sorry for Harvey. If Deucey’s person says the kitten is alive, then the kitten is probably alive. I can tell you this though–with human children, those born with birth anomalies that are evident, as the kitten’s are, often also have anomalies in their internal organs that can shorten their life spans.
The vet said the organs looked normal. Don’t know what kind of tests were run. I just don’t know how close to the situation the YouTube poster is. And then to read the article saying the kitten died at home. The article said Stephanie called the news station.
I just want to know whether she’s dead. This is the most conflicting article I’ve ever done for PoC. Do we believe the news report or the person who posted the video?
I don’t like conflict. I like order where the status is in agreement. This type of thing really messes with my head.
I don’t like to see two-faced kittens either but people are attracted to oddities.
Never thought I’d get used to looking at a one-eared cat but I did 🙂
I know I tend to be out on a limb on these topics but I dislike looking at two-faced kittens.
Don’t get me wrong, I respect the views of others. However, the reason for the interest in two-faced kittens is the same reason for the interest that people have in Grumpy cat and other sorts of weird or unusual creatures.
And I say that that the Grumpy cat scenario is exploitation.
It is voyeurism. It is an expression of the bored and ghoulish human mind.
That is just my views. Anyone can tell me I’m wrong and I’ll be fine about it.
On that basis, I don’t get involved with these stories so can’t answer the question in the title.