Bettie Bee, the Two-Faced Kitten

A kitten was born with two faces a couple of weeks ago in South Africa. The scientific term is diprosopus, or craniofacial duplication. It is attributed to abnormal activity of the sonic hedgehog protein. Cats with the condition are known as Janus cats.

Bettie Bee appears to be healthy so far. Since this picture was taken a couple of days ago, her two normal eyes have opened, while the connected eye where the two faces meet has remained mostly shut. Chantal Rushmer of Purrfect Friends Foundation has been feeding Bettie Bee by hand since birth, because she couldn't nurse properly. While she has two functioning mouths, they lead to the same stomach. You can follow Bettie Bee's progress at her Facebook page. -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: Bettie Bee)