UPDATE: As of May 24th, Biscuits and Gravy has sadly passed away. The kitten stole the hearts of many after they were born on May 20th. Sadly, animals with their condition often don’t live long after their birth. Our hearts are with the King family.
Have you ever seen a two-faced kitten? Well, now you can say you have! Biscuits and Gravy were born in Oregon recently and are part of the same body. Owner, Kyla, was shocked when she picked up some new kittens from her cat’s litter to find two tiny noises, four eyes, and two mouths. Kyla then sent a photo to her husband, BJ King, with a text that read, “We have 6-1/3 kitty cats now!”
One of the couple’s children suggested putting the photo of the two-faced kitten on Facebook, but BJ took it further than that. He posted the photos on their local community Facebook page, Albany Happenings. “I said we’ll probably get a little bit of reaction out of this and it took off really fast,” BJ recalls.
Meet this adorable two-faced kitten
Kyla subsequently reached out to her vet to learn more about the kittens’ condition and how she can properly care for them. Turns out, there’s not much the family can do except to make them comfortable and help them eat. “It doesn’t really know how to nurse properly because it has two mouths so I’ve been trying to feed it,” Kyla says. “And, I mean, I’m gonna do the best I can but these animals don’t usually live too long.”
RELATED: Man Develops 120-Year-Old Cat Photos Found In Time Capsule
Cats with two faces are often referred to as “Janus” cats after the Roman god Janus. Janus is often depicted with two faces in mythology. These kittens suffer from a condition called diprosopus, or cranial duplication. Animals with this condition often don’t survive longer than a day, but two kittens defied the odds. A two-faced kitten by the names of Frank and Louie passed away back in 2014 at the ages of 15.
The family plans to keep the kitten and raise it as best they can
“We’re not super optimistic but it does seem pretty lively and has an appetite and seems to be doing pretty well,” BJ says of the kitten. “It’s smaller than the other kittens but it could be the runt, too, on top of having two faces,” Kyla adds.
The family plans to enjoy the time they may have left with their sweet, two-faced kitten. While the family says they’ve had many requests from people who wish to adopt the kitten, the Kings plan on keeping it to raise themselves. We hope to see Biscuits and Gravy live on for many more years to come!