Frank and Louie was the world’s oldest “Janus cat”. This is a cat with — what I would describe as suffering from — an horrific abnormality, namely two faces. I’m sure most often cats with this horrendous birth defect fail to survive very long but in this instance this cat lived an ordinary life and a normal lifespan. This is rare congenital disorder. It’s scientific name is diprosopus or craniofacial duplication.
Frank and Louie died yesterday, December 4, 2014. I don’t really want to dwell on that. Clearly he was looked after very well by Martha “Marty” Stevens. I’m sure that nobody could have done better.
We don’t know how Frank and Louie felt throughout his life. I’m sure he showed no signs of discomfort but we still don’t know how he felt throughout his life. We don’t know how it affected him. We shouldn’t be sure that he was unaffected and neither should we be sure that he felt okay.
We do know that people are fascinated with two-faced cats which made him a bit of a star but I do believe that I’m not the only person who has mixed emotions about cats like this.
What makes me a bit queasy about the whole thing it feels like we are voyeurs peeping at a freak show. It is slightly embarrassing. I think it’s a good idea that a cat suffering from the sort of genetic defect should be well looked after and cared for as long as possible but I don’t think it’s a good idea that Guinness World Records should be involved in listing him as the world’s oldest Janus cat. That’s just my opinion and I know people will disagree with me.
His caretaker would love to look after a cat like this again. I don’t think you should be so eager to do it. I think we should feel sorry and that sad that a cat had to live his life with such a defect and we should hope that normal cats like him aren’t born again.
It would be nice to know what sort of special provisions Martha made when caring for him. I’m thinking about how Frank and Louie ate. Which mouth did he eat through and were there any anatomical defects within the mouth and throat, for example, which placed an obligation upon the caretaker to provide certain types of food and/or avoid other types of food?
Were there any other anatomical defects with which this cat was suffering? Perhaps somebody can help me in respect of these questions. My research indicates that cats with diprosopus have internal defects too. How did these affect him? Did they make him uncomfortable or put him in pain?
Note: Frank and Louie was brought to Tufts where Martha was working to be euthanized. We know therefore that this cat was bred, which indicates that he is possibly a purebred cat. He was solid grey with short fur. The best known cat with this appearance is the Chartreux, a rare cat. He was more likely to have been a blue Brit SH if he was purebred.
Although there were 2 faces, there was only one brain, so this cat saw itself as a single cat. To see itself as 2 cats, it would need 2 brains, which might share a blood supply, but generally not share much actual brain tissue.
The “two face” condition is currently attributed to disrupted embryo growth due to a protein called “sonic hedgehog” which causes excessive widening of the face to such an extent that 2 muzzles are formed. Embryology researches have been able to create the condition in fish and bird embryos by implanting a bead impregnated with the “sonic hedgehog” protein into the area that differentiates into the facial region.
I’m not sure of the incidence of this anomaly, but it’s developmental rather than genetic and can occur randomly in pretty much any vertebrate. In fact there’s so much scope for things to go wrong in developing embryos, it’s amazing that they ever turn out okay!
This cat was a Ragdoll (his history is well documented online).
It’s called dunkies. I’m sure referring to the time that unwanted kittens and puppies were and probably still are drowned.
I think you can find your answer by reading about conjoined twins Michael. Because it is all they have every known they are often reluctant to be separated. We no longer put conjoined twins on display and neither should we with animals. Each birth deformity on an animal is distinct to the individual. Cats hide pain but I doubt he would have thrived if the pain was constant throughout his life.
Thank you Malisa, for an excellent comment.
No…they weren’t “throwaways” They were just unfortunate to be born with a genetic disorder. No less deserving the right to live a life… how ever short or long it may be as long as they healthy in other respects and the condition does not cause suffering or loss of quality of life.To kill them outright is just plain wrong. But since it’s just an animal or to some “mill breeders” the “cash cow” people would rather just kill them off and keep breeding from the same stock. Most times the genetic disorders start showing up when the animal is over bred and needs to stop breeding or when two animals are not genetically compatible( both carrying the same recessive or dominant genetic traits that mix together cause mutations not normally compatible with life. Genetics are always the luck of the draw in animals as well as humans. But then we don’t go around killing humans that get dealt a crappy hand of genetic cards do we? That’s because “we” consider ourselves above or better than just a mere animal. And fail to see that they have emotions,feelings,independent thoughts and needs.
I give Martha “Marty” Stevens kudos for seeing past their genetic problems and gave them a chance to live a full life… which sadly can’t be said for the many stray and shelter cats and dogs whose owners thought THEY were throwaways!
Beautiful words Eva. Yes, they deserve a special place because disabled humans and animals don’t really get a fair life on planet earth even in the 21st century.