World’s Oldest Two-Faced Cat

by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)

Marty holding Frank and Louie

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Marty holding Frank and Louie

A 12-year old two-faced cat from Worchester, Massachusetts named Frank and Louie was recently entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest two-faced cat. This remarkable cat, owned by Marty Stevens, has three eyes, one on each of his two faces. He has a third eye in the middle that's non-functioning and stares straight ahead, giving the cat perfect vision similar to a horse.

Frank and Louie "Frankenlouie" is known as a Janus cat (named after a two-faced Roman god). One brain and one stomach are shared and each face has a nose. Frank eats while Louie just hangs out to smell the food.

His...um...their um...his cat mom Marty is a veterinary nurse who saved Frankenlouie's life twelve years ago when a breeder dropped the little Ragdoll kitten off at Tufts Veterinary School where she worked to have the kitten euthanized. He was only one day old and the average life span of a Janus cat is one to two days.

At the time, Marty was warned cats with this condition, known as craniofacial duplication, or diprosopia in technical terms, rarely survived past kitten-hood. Frank and Louie have proven the experts not only wrong in the longevity department, but also in their overall health by proving themselves healthier than most normal cats.

As a kitten, Marty often carried Frankenlouie around in a shoe box and fed her cat every few hours a special formula using a feeding tube in his stomach.

Here's a short YouTube video of Frank and Louie. For the record, Frank is on the left and Louie on the right.

Marty says of her special kitty "Every day is kind of a blessing; being 12 and normal life expectancy when they have this condition is one to four days," So, he's ahead of the game; every day I just thank God I still have him."

Although people are initially shocked by Frank and Louie's physical appearance, they are quickly won over by his sweet nature. Other than his odd appearance, this cat is a snugglebug and enjoys a lap rub while showing off a loud purr.

Marty, you've raised yourself a fine cat-son...um...son's. You should be proud of his longevity because without your love and dedication he probably wouldn't have survived. He has a sweet nature because you've shown him that although he's a little different, he's still a cat and cats need love.

Comments readers? I personally enjoyed every minute of reading up on Marty and her unique cat. For more information and several videos just Google "world's oldest two-faced cat."

Elisa

References:
http://web.archive.org/web/20141218070810/http://truthdive.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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World's Oldest Two-Faced Cat

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Oct 06, 2011
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He's wonderful!
by: Leah England

I think he is wonderful! I just thank God that he is with someone who loves him however I disagree with the publicity.

If I had a cat like that I would go out of my way to shield him not show him. I would be scared that someone may steal him to show him as a freak which he clearly is not.

Who are we after all to decide what is and isn't normal? Just because something doesn't conform to 'the norm' we judge it.

I have never before seen a cat like this before or a winged cat for that matter however they are Gods creations and they still have feelings and should be cared for and considered just the same as any other creature.


Oct 03, 2011
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Two cats, not a two faced cat
by: Ruth (Monty's Mom)

This cat has to actually be two cats, conjoined twins. You'd have to see an MRI or X-ray (Or maybe a CAT scan-- ha, ha!) to know what the situation is with the two brains-- perhaps one is incomplete. Or maybe they are like a human case I saw on t.v.

There are two little girls who basically share a body, each controlling one half of the body, and yet they manage to function quite nicely together. You can't talk to these cats to know what is going on in their body. It may be a similar situation. One thing I liked about the two little girls is how they would play piano together. I felt sorry for the girl who controls the left hand because most of the time you just play harmony with your left hand. If I were their piano teacher I would write them lots of music where the left hand gets the melody and the right hand has the harmony. I'd love to see the two of them learn to play organ! They'd have to write out pedal markings ahead of time to agree on who gets what note. My own feet sometimes can't agree on that! I'd have no doubt they could do it, since they play baseball and are actually pretty good at it. It's fun to speculate what's going on in the brains of the conjoined cats, but I think it's better that they haven't done a lot of tests and experiments, just let the cats live as normal a life as possible. A person, even a child, can say, "I don't want to do this," or "I don't want talk about this"-- but a cat wouldn't have a voice in the matter. It wouldn't be ethical to subject them to experiments, which would merely satisfy curiosity and probably not do very much to shed light on the lives of conjoined twins, since there are humans living in that situation who are more than willing to share their unique experiences.


Oct 03, 2011
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World's oldest two - faced cat
by: Rudolph.A.Furtado

A very big thank you Elisa for writing an excellent blog on the freak two faced "Janus" cat. I researched through google and honestly found your article to the point and very descriptive, including the photograph. Akin to the World's most famous human Siamese twins in history Chang and Eng, the "Two-Faced cat" aptly named "Frank and Louie" will be a freak sensation.
The owner Marty.Stevens deserves all the publicity and if shrewd enough could even earn a fortune through exhibition of "Frank and Louie" akin to the "Barnum and Bailey" circus. A part of the exhibit income could be donated for "Cat Welfare".Thanks to a cat that was almost euthanized at birth that we humans have realized that "Freaks" even in the 4- legged animal kingdom can live a normal life if given the chance.


Oct 03, 2011
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Thoughts
by: Elisa

And sensationalism is what makes people Google things like this. People have always been curious about the strange and deformed. I love the picture of the winged cat. I WANT A CAT WITH WINGS! And I bet I'm not the only one. I'd never even heard of a winged cat before.


Oct 03, 2011
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Ambivalent
by: Michael

I am ambivalent about this cat and the story. I think it is nice that he lived for 12 years and was treated beautifully.

I am not sure about the attention he gets. It could be said to be a bit of a freak show mentality. People are fascinated with two headed cats. There have been a lot in the news and on the internet. Winged cats are also newsworthy.

I think he should be left alone really but that is entirely my personal view and I respect other people's ideas of course.


3 thoughts on “World’s Oldest Two-Faced Cat”

  1. Your cat is beautiful ‘Ihave never seen anything like it! . I am a cat person and I have 3 of my own but out of my 3 that your’s is the best!!

    Reply
    • I don’t like two-faced cats myself. They become celebrities and people like to look at them. Sort of freak show mentality. That is just my thoughts about it. Each to their own.

      Reply
  2. I’ve actually read about this cat last yr. I think it is awesome that some1 would take care of them. would you take your human child to be killed—no of course not, so y do it to this cat. good job Marty

    Reply

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