A doctor we recently hired told me a few days ago about one of his old colleagues who had just seen a puppy with three hind legs and two vaginas. He showed me a picture of the newborn, and it was truly odd-looking. We began talking about other genetic abnormalities that were likely to go along with such deformities, and that the puppy had a low chance of survival. Our discussion turned to similar deformities in other species, such as two-headed snakes. No kidding!
When I was attending the University of Tennessee for my Master's degree I saw a two-headed python in their reptile research department, alive and well. One head was the dominant one and tended to control the body, but sometimes the heads would fight over a prey item. It was really strange, but interesting at the same time.
Then today I just came across a story on the front page of FoxNews.com, about a two-faced cat who was 12 years old and still doing very well, thereby setting a Guinness World Record. Click on the link above to see the story as well as a short video of the cat and his owner
I have to admit that even having seen many things in 14 years of veterinary practice, this one took me a bit by surprise. I've seen photos and even preserved specimens of two-faced cattle, sheep, and other animals, but none of them survived long. These types of deformities are usually so severe that life-expectancy for the unfortunate animals is measured in days from birth. So it was quite strange to see a cat living a normal life-span with this condition and seemingly very happy and otherwise normal.
I'm not sure that I have a real point or comment about this cat. But I certainly wanted to share!
