Story Sunday: Janus Kitten Biscuits & Gravy
“[It can] meow out of one mouth and eat out of the other.”
Meet Biscuits & Gravy: The Two-Faced Oregon Kitten
When Kyla King got up Wednesday morning to check on her pregnant cat, she knew there was a good chance she’d find a litter of newborn kittens. She walked outside to the special crate she had put the expectant mother into overnight and noticed four tiny kittens. But, then she noticed two more hiding behind their mom. So, Kyla picked one up and set it down with the rest of the litter. She picked up the last kitten and found herself face-to-face with two tiny noses, four eyes tightly shut and two mewing mouths.
Kyla said she sent a picture to her husband, BJ King, with a text that read:
“We have 6-1/3 kitty cats now!”Kyla reached out to their vet to learn more about the kitten’s condition, how to care for it and its odds of survival. She learned there wasn’t much to be done medically for the tiny creature. All she could do was make it comfortable and help it eat. “It doesn’t really know how to nurse properly because it has two mouths so, I’ve been trying to feed it,” Kyla said. “And, I mean, I’m gonna do the best I can but, these animals don’t usually live too long.”
Cats with two faces are known as Janus cats, after the Roman god Janus, often depicted with two faces in mythology. They suffer from a rare congenital defect called diprosopus, or cranial duplication. Most Janus cats don’t live longer than a day but, one defied the odds. His name was Frank and Louie and he passed away in 2014 at the age of 15. The Guinness Book of World Records named him the world’s longest surviving Janus cat.
Cambrie Caldwell
KOIN TV CBS
Portland, OR
May 21, 2020
Sadly, Biscuits passed away last night. ~Vic
May 25, 2020 at 1:07 AM
How amazing, you see I learn something new everyday and it’s only 6am 😉
May 25, 2020 at 3:33 AM
Eek. I couldn’t learn anything at 6am. *snore*
May 25, 2020 at 7:39 AM
😂😂
May 25, 2020 at 1:26 PM
😴
May 25, 2020 at 9:51 AM
Whew! What a darling kitten, but ever so hard to take care of.
May 25, 2020 at 1:30 PM
Yeah. Cute and sad.
May 26, 2020 at 10:16 AM
Very sad.
May 26, 2020 at 9:11 AM
Oh my…..I’ve never seen one before. Yes, cute and sad…..
May 26, 2020 at 1:19 PM
I’d never heard of or seen one before.
May 27, 2020 at 1:15 PM
I read this the other night and was going to reply until I saw what you last wrote… damn it didn’t ask to be born that way…
May 27, 2020 at 7:27 PM
Yeah. Poor little thing…